{"id":25587,"date":"2021-10-28T07:00:42","date_gmt":"2021-10-28T12:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/?p=25587"},"modified":"2021-11-21T20:29:07","modified_gmt":"2021-11-22T02:29:07","slug":"the-wheel-of-time-when-it-was-a-ttrpg","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/the-wheel-of-time-when-it-was-a-ttrpg\/","title":{"rendered":"The Wheel of Time, When It Was a TTRPG"},"content":{"rendered":"

With <\/span><\/span><\/span>The Wheel of Time<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a> debuting on Prime on November 19<\/span><\/span><\/span>th<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/sup>, <\/span><\/span><\/span>there is bound to be interest in bringing this setting to tabletop RPGs. The only official <\/span><\/span><\/span>The Wheel of Time RPG<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/span> is from Last Unicorn Games and was published <\/span><\/span><\/span>twenty years ago, <\/span><\/span><\/span>in 2001. Since that\u2019s what <\/span><\/span><\/span>is available <\/span><\/span><\/span>for tabletop<\/span><\/span><\/span>, I\u2019m going to dig up my copies of <\/span><\/span><\/span>The Wheel of Time Roleplaying Game, The Wheel of Time Roleplaying Game: Prophecies of the Dragon<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/span>, and the 2001 <\/span><\/span><\/span>Dragon Magazine Annual <\/i><\/span><\/span><\/span>#6<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/span>\/d20 Special<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/span> issue featuring <\/span><\/span><\/span>The Wheel of Time Roleplaying Game<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/span> and write a few words about the game. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>In 2019, <\/span><\/span><\/span>I attended <\/span><\/span><\/span>JordanCon<\/a>,<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/u><\/span> a celebration of all things Robert Jordan and <\/span><\/span><\/span>The <\/i><\/span><\/span><\/span>Wheel of Time <\/i><\/span><\/span><\/span>novel series<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a>. One of my goals for the show was <\/span><\/span><\/span>getting in<\/span><\/span><\/span>to <\/span><\/span><\/span>a game of<\/span><\/span><\/span> The <\/i><\/span><\/span><\/span>Wheel of Time Roleplaying Game<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/span>, a <\/span><\/span><\/span>d20 take on the setting produced <\/span><\/span><\/span>by<\/span><\/span><\/span> Last Unicorn Games. <\/span><\/span><\/span>This book was <\/span><\/span><\/span>published in 2001 during the d20 <\/span><\/span><\/span>boo<\/span><\/span><\/span>m. <\/span><\/span><\/span>This RPG uses<\/span><\/span><\/span> Dungeons & Dragons Third Edition<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/span> mechanics <\/span><\/span><\/span>to simulate<\/span><\/span><\/span> Jordan\u2019s world<\/span><\/span><\/span>. As <\/span><\/span><\/span>I wrote for d20 Radio<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/u><\/span>, I missed out on that game. However, a few weeks <\/span><\/span><\/span>after JordanCon,<\/span><\/span><\/span> I happened upon the core rulebook and the <\/span><\/span><\/span>Dragon Magazine<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/span> with two articles about the <\/span><\/span><\/span>WoT RPG<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/span>. <\/span><\/span><\/span>L<\/span><\/span><\/span>a<\/span><\/span><\/span>ter, I picked up the <\/span><\/span><\/span>Prophecies of the Dragon<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/span> to complete my set. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>S<\/span><\/span><\/span>ide note, in 2001, <\/span><\/span><\/span>there was <\/span><\/span><\/span>some promotional material and digital content available via the web. However, this <\/span><\/span><\/span>content is no longer actively available from Wizards of the Coast; <\/span><\/span><\/span>though, I\u2019m sure it is archived elsewhere on the web<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span>. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s give this project some context and take a <\/span><\/span><\/span>trip in the way back machine to 2001 <\/span><\/span><\/span>and 2002 <\/span><\/span><\/span>between <\/span><\/span><\/span>Robert Jordan\u2019s<\/span><\/span><\/span> Winter\u2019s Heart<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a> (book nine in <\/span><\/span><\/span>T<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/span>he Wheel of Time<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/span> cycle) and <\/span><\/span><\/span>Crossroads of Twilight<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a>. <\/span><\/span><\/span>During that time, Last Unicorn Games, <\/span><\/span><\/span>an eventual <\/span><\/span><\/span>subsidiary <\/span><\/span><\/span>of Wizards of the Coast,<\/span><\/span><\/span> picked up <\/span><\/span><\/span>The<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/span> Wheel of Time RPG<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/span> license. <\/span><\/span><\/span>These books came out well before the end of the novels so they are a look at the world <\/span><\/span><\/span>of the wheel <\/span><\/span><\/span>mid-story. <\/span><\/span><\/span>What you\u2019ll find is an attempt to meld 3e and Jordan\u2019s fantasy into a product that has some great art, nice concepts and executions, but some aspects of it fail to realize all this could have been. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The Wheel of Time Roleplaying Game<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

This is the core rulebook with everything you <\/span><\/span><\/span>need to play the game. It has all of the 3e rules modified to fit the setting. To be clear, these are 3e rules so it\u2019s not a perfect fit. For example, The One Power is broken when bolted onto the 3e ruleset. Beyond that, there\u2019s some non-canon lore in the book. But, setting those bits aside, if you know D&D and you know <\/span><\/span><\/span>The Wheel of Time<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/span>, this book gives you everything you\u2019ll need to have a fun campaign. <\/span><\/span><\/span>You\u2019ll need to avoid some pit traps or you\u2019ll have some OP characters, but the book has a lot to offer. There\u2019s <\/span><\/span><\/span>character creation, feats, combat, some monsters and adversaries, and more. <\/span><\/span><\/span>Best of all, the artwork is up to the standards of many of <\/span><\/span><\/span>The Wheel of Time<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/span> products; each image is fantastic. <\/span><\/span><\/span>3e does not get the love of original, AD&D 1e, or 3.5e for its <\/span><\/span><\/span>Pathfinder<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/span> compatibility, but that does not lessen the importance of this book. <\/span><\/span><\/span>It\u2019s <\/span><\/span><\/span>one of the more interesting and worthwhile products from <\/span><\/span><\/span>a largely bypassed era of <\/span><\/span><\/span>Dungeons & Dragons<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/span>. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

2001 Dragon Magazine Annual #6\/d20 Special <\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>T<\/span><\/span><\/span>his issue features two articles <\/span><\/span><\/span>providing content for <\/span><\/span><\/span>The Wheel of Time RPG<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/span>. The first, by Owen K.C. Stephens, features several hero templates with enough info to serve as NPCs. They\u2019re nice entries, but the win is the artwork by Scott Schomburg. Each template has a full figure illustration with it. <\/span><\/span><\/span>These are outstanding <\/span><\/span><\/span>works of art<\/span><\/span><\/span>. <\/span><\/span><\/span>The second article covers the animals of the world, giving enough info to bring the simple creatures into the game. <\/span><\/span><\/span>The article i<\/span><\/span><\/span>s by the same creative team <\/span><\/span><\/span>as the first, however, they added <\/span><\/span><\/span>a pair of paragraphs by Robert Jordan. It\u2019s nice to get a little more of his work into this project. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Lastly, or firstly, let\u2019s talk about the magazine\u2019s cover illustration by Darrell K. Sweet of Perrin Aybara. It\u2019s a masterpiece of a cover, mixing the feel of <\/span><\/span><\/span>The Wheel of Time<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/span> covers with great D&D artwork. <\/span><\/span><\/span>All in all, for two articles and a cover, it\u2019s a good chunk of content for WoT. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The Wheel of Time Roleplaying Game: Prophecies of the Dragon<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

This is the only full supplement for <\/span><\/span><\/span>The Wheel of Time RPG<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/span>. It\u2019s a campaign that lets your PCs play adventures during the same timeframe as the novels without messing up their continuity. Mostly. This adventure does feature additional material that is non-canonical. <\/span><\/span><\/span>Despite that, using the core rules and this, you can take your table into Jordan\u2019s world and that\u2019s bound to be epic. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Robert Jordan\u2019s Thoughts<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>But how did Robert Jordan feel about the RPG? <\/span><\/span><\/span>On Robert Jordan’s blog (October 4<\/span><\/span><\/span>th<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/sup>, 2006), he answered a question about the RPG [Taken from the <\/span><\/span><\/span>A Wheel of Time Wiki<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/u><\/span>]:<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

“For Infested Templar, I had little to do with the RPG. Mainly my role was limited to telling them that they could not have paladins, ninjas, clerics, shuriken etc. I had to put so much time into that fighting that I washed my hands of the rest, I’m afraid. I could see that trying to make them actually adapt to the books was going to be Valmy Ridge all over again. At least I managed to stop them from putting in a ter’angreal that could bring on the Last Battle in some unspecified manner and also some other really terrible ideas. I wish I had been able to do more, but I had a book to write.”<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

That\u2019s a 1<\/span><\/span><\/span>5<\/span><\/span><\/span>-year-old quote from an individual who can\u2019t be asked to clarify it, so, with that in mind, <\/span><\/span><\/span>it appears that this project was not to the liking of Robert Jordan, the author of <\/span><\/span><\/span>The Wheel of Time<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/span> series. <\/span><\/span><\/span>Which is a shame because it has some good parts, though it\u2019s not a perfect adaptation. <\/span><\/span><\/span>It\u2019s a further shame that there isn\u2019t another WoT RPG coming that could benefit from having access to the complete source material. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

In The End<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

For me, <\/span><\/span><\/span>this project is well-timed considering the TV is close to hand. The RPG was written for an older edition of D&D, but it could be brought up to whatever edition you\u2019d like with some reconfiguring. While the game is fun, the two decades since it was published leave me with two questions about <\/span><\/span><\/span>The Wheel of Time Roleplaying Game<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/span>. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n