There has been some interest lately for using R. Jordan's Wheel of Time as a setting for AD&D. I began some work on this a few months ago, so I'll let you take a look at what I've got and see what you all think. I am planning on finishing this in the next few months, I envision a 20 page or so rules supplement that would allow for an adventure in Jordan's playground. If you'd like to offer some input, please respond via email.

Here goes,

Jungle

NOTE: Feel free to distribute, modify, etc. but please leave the above information intact. Even though this is a derivative of a number of product lines, I should at least get some creative credit. Or at least a typing credit. (stepping off my soap box)

========

Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time series is arguably the greatest fantasy epic of the last decade. It is a rich world, with lifelike characters and stunning landscapes. It is a world with magic, monsters, and, of course, mayhem. In other words, it is the perfect setting for a fantasy role playing game.

Rather than start completely from scratch, this game is a set of optional rules for the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons game that we all know and love (and hate much of). The level system, combat system, and character generation are essentially the same (with some slight modifications) while the magic system and character classes and races are vastly different. The magic system is based on a spell point system with different magic points for each of the five areas of the One Power (spirit, fire, earth, water, air). Clever readers will notice that this system is somewhat similar to (OK, pretty much a blatant rip-off of) the magic system used in Magic: The Gathering, although I promise there will be no booster packs to these rules.

There are basically two different types of spells, Generic and Specific. Generic spells consist of healing, illusions, fire starting, etc. Everyone with the ability to channel can perform these to some degree. The strength of these spells depends on the number of mana used in the weave. Specific spells are those that are not commonly known. For the most part, traditional AD&D spells fall under this category. In addition to normal magic abilities, Talents such as Traveling and

Compulsion are available to the talented (and lucky) adventurer. Because there is no memorization required, the magic using characters will have a greater number of spells available to them in this system than in standard AD&D as well as increased spell flexibility. See the magic section for a greater explanation.

Character creation follows the same procedures as AD&D with a few minor exceptions noted below. The biggest changes are in races and classes which are appropriate to the Wheel of Time setting.

Strength, Charisma, Dexterity, and Constitution have the same meaning as normal AD&D.

In addition to the normal definitions for Wisdom and Intelligence, the following also apply in this game

Wisdom is a measure of how in tune a character is with the One Power. It effects the amount of mana a character can channel each day. Higher wisdom allows the player to cast more spells per day.

Intelligence is a measure of how well a character can understand and handle weaves. It effects the ability of a character to learn a weave as well as the maximum mana a character can use in one weave (SL). Higher intelligence allows for more powerful spells.

Humans have the same characteristics as those in AD&D. Most characters will be humans. They can be from any of the main cities (Tarabon, Tear, Cairhein, Andor, etc.) which will dictate to some extent their attitude, mannerisms, and fashion choice. Author Note: Some of this info is in the WoT Concordance. I will be adding a section later describing the different cities. Human occupations can range from mere soldier to Hunter of the Horn. The characters occupation and place of birth, however, have no effect on ability scores nor do they carry special abilities. They are for role playing purposes only. This is not to say that they will never matter however. An Andoran soldier will have a much better idea of how to handle himself in Andor than he will in Cairhein. A Tarabon noble might be useless to the party in the wilderness but will come in handy when trying to gain access to nobility in other locales. This puts much more emphasis on developing a character, rather than just a set of statistics.

Aiel are basically human with a couple of bonuses and penalties. They are outlined below:

Bonuses: + 1 Constitution

+ 1 Dexterity

Penalties: Can't use swords

Must abide by Aiel custons (i.e. Ji'eh'toh)

There are other role playing consequences that may be viewed either as a bonus or a penalty. The most obvious is the fact that most everyone goes screaming in terror at the sight of an Aiel. Kind of makes it hard to wander around towns that way, however it does make it easy to keep to oneself.

A.N. I am thinking of making them somewhat like a monk's ability to stun and instantly kill. Also, probably a first strike in the first round after veiling against enemies of less than 5th level (due to the intimidation.)

Seafolk are humans with some advantages when on ships. They suffer some problems when on land (they attract attention, scare the ignorant masses, etc.) These differences will manifest themselves through role playing and do not affect any statistics.

There isn't enough information in the books to come up with anything special about the Seanchan. If you wish to play a Seanchan, make something up that is consistent with the limited information available in the books. This will probably change after the next book comes out (sometime before 2000 hopefully.)

There are a few other possibilities (ogier, maybe trolloc) but I think that to be consistent with this world, most should be human. Then again, I don't see anything wrong with playing an elf, halfling, dwarf, etc. I don't see any reason they can't exist in the wilderness. I wouldn't expect them to be well received by the general population, however, which should come into play during role playing.

Aes Sedai are female magic users who have trained at the White Tower in Tar Valon. As such, they are bound by the Three Oaths. The oaths are: (1) To speak no word that is not true. (2) To make no weapon with which one man may kill another. (3) Never to use the One Power as a weapon except against Shadowspawn or in the last defense of her life, the life of her Warder, or another Aes Sedai. Humans, Seanchan, and Aiel can all be Aes Sedai, however the vast majority will be Humans. The player should be required to have a good reason as to why his non human character has been tower trained. Aes Sedai can use the resources of the White Tower, such as contacts and libraries scattered throughout the countryside. This makes learning new spells much easier for Aes Sedai. They also have the added benefit of the respect (and often fear) of the populace. All female magic users, including Aes Sedai, can sense the ability to channel in other females, provided the ability is not masked by any spells or items. Aes Sedai begin the game with five Generic spell abilities chosen by the tower. In addition, they are taught three Specifics. They fight, gain hit points, and increase levels as an AD&D magic user. They are restricted to using staffs, maces, and daggers as weapons. They do not wear armor other than robes. Aes Sedai try to get any females they find that can channel to train at the tower.

For more role playing variations, Aes Sedai can be from any aha, with the appropriate life focus. The aha must be chosen at fifth level. I will include information on each color but I think that we can find it elsewhere for now.

The Spell Limit (SL) is the maximum amount of mana that can be channeled at once. At higher levels, the magic user will be able to split this mana into multiple simultaneous spells. The SL increases with level according to the following table:

Level SL Level SL Level SL

1 3 5 9 9 14

2 4 6 10 10 15

3 6 7 11 11 17

4 7 8 12 12 18

Aes Sedai with an Intelligence of 17 or 18 get a bonus of 1 SL and those with Intelligence of 19 or greater get a bonus of 2 SL.

The following table shows the daily mana limits (or spell points, if you prefer):

Wisdom Level 1 Each Additional Level

11-13 5 + D4 D4

14-15 6 + D4 1 + D4

16-17 7 + D4 2 + D4

18 8 + D4 1 + D6

19 9 + D4 2 + D6

Wilders are female magic users who have not had formal training. They are not bound by the Three Oaths, however they also can not use the Aes Sedai resources. It will be difficult to find teachers because most Aes Sedai will try to drag them off to the White Tower. Most of their spells will have to be learned by observation and experimentation. Wilders can be Humans, Seanchan, or Aiel. They fight, gain hit points, and increase levels as magic users. Another drawback that wilders suffer is that their SL is lower at low levels than the formally trained Aes Sedai. This represents their struggle to master the newfound abilities. They follow the following table:

Level SL Level SL Level SL

1 2 5 8 9 14

2 3 6 10 10 15

3 5 7 11 11 17

4 6 8 12 12 18

Wilders with an Intelligence of 17 or greater get a bonus of 1 SL.

The daily mana limits for Wilders are the same as for Aes Sedai.

Wise Ones are the Aiel equivalent of Aes Sedai. Only Aiel may be Wise Ones. Wise Ones are extremely well respected among Aiel, but they are seen as just another Aiel to wetlanders. Wise Ones are safe with any Aiel regardless of clan feuds. Wise Ones attempt to avoid Aes Sedai who might try to carry them off to the White Tower. Wise Ones will not take part in battle unless absolutely necessary. They will however be able to heal and cause distraction during battle, just not actually attack the enemy. Wise Ones wear no armor. They gain hit points and fight (in an emergency) as a cleric.

Their spell casting ability is identical to Aes Sedai.

Asha'man are males who have the ability to channel. They have trained at the Black Tower. All Asha'man start life as a normal fighter. Sometime during the progression from first to fifth level fighter they discover that they can channel the one power. At this point, they stop their fighter training and Progress to a first level Asha'man. This is determined by rolling a D100 on the Progression Table below each time the character goes up a level.. If the roll is less than the chance of Progression, they have discovered the ability to channel. They stop progressing as a fighter and start a dual class as a magic user. They are then considered a dual classed character as defined by AD&D (Players Handbook, p. 33) with the following exceptions: they are able to use their fighter abilities in conjunction with their magic without any experience penalties; they can cast spells in studded leather armor or lighter; they can cast spells and attack in the same combat, although not in the same round; if they are hit with a projectile or attacked in hand-to-hand combat during casting, the spell will fail and the caster will suffer damage equal to twice the casting cost of the spell (similar to mana burn in Magic: The Gathering). Unlike females, males cannot sense the ability to channel in other males without specifically testing for it. At third level are able to test for chaneling ability, but it requires 5 minutes of total concentration. At any level they can feel when anyone holds the source or channels.

Fighter Level Chance of Progression

1 10%

2 20%

3 40%

4 75%

5 100%

Asha'man follow the same SL table as Aes Sedai with the corresponding bonus for Intelligence. They follow the same daily mana chart as well.

There is an additional problem with being an Asha'man. Because of the taint on Saidin, all Asha'man will eventually go insane. At each level, the character must make a saving throw against insanity. A roll of a D100 must be more than five times your Asha'man level in order to save. Insanity is incurable and manifests itself in a number of ways, getting more severe each time a character fails to save. The following table shows what new effect occurs each time a character fails to save versus insanity. New effects are in addition to old effects, they do not replace them.

Times

Failed Effect

1 Daily mana reduced by 10 % rounded up.

2 Spell Limit reduced by 25% rounded up.

3 Begins to hear voices. Save vs.

Intelligence or do what the voice says.

4 Intelligence decreases by 2

5 Intelligence decreases by additional 3

6 Lose 2 experience levels.

7 Death

Magic spells are cast using a magic point system. Each magic using character will have a given amount of mana that can be used per day. This mana can be channeled as any of the Five Powers (Spirit, Air, Water, Earth, and Fire). To reflect their relative strengths, females require two mana for each point of Fire or Earth which they wish to cast, and males require two mana for each point of Air or Water. All other types cost one mana per point. Spells are cast by combining, or weaving, the power in each of the five areas into a single spell. Just because a character has enough mana and knows that a certain weave will produce a certain effect, she may not be able to cast the spell because she is unable to weave that much mana at once. This will depend on the level of the caster and is specified by the Spell Limit (SL).

In addition to their daily mana, each character has a reserve of mana that they can call on once per day in emergencies. However, this action is not without risk. There is a chance that they will be unable to control this additional mana and will suffer burn out. The more experienced Aes Sedai and Asha'man will have a greater chance of successfully tapping these reserves. Channeling characters have a 10% chance of burnout for channeling extra mana equal to or less than their level. They have an additional 10% chance of burn out for each extra mana point above their level. There are two possible manifestations of burn out. The first is that the maximum mana that can be channeled at once (spell limit) will be reduced. The second is that the maximum mana that the character can channel per day will be reduced. There is also the possibility of stilling or death. To determine the effect of burn out, roll a 2D6 and check the result on the burn out table below.

2 Stilled

3 Lose 1 INT and 1 WIS

4 Lose 1 WIS

5 Lose 10 daily mana

6 Lose 1 SL

7 Lose 5 daily mana

8 Lose 1 SL

9 Lose 10 daily mana

10 Lose 1 INT

11 Lose 1 Experience Level

12 Death

There is a chance at each level progression that the character will discover a talent during the training for that level. The five talents are Travelling, Foretelling, Dreamwalking, Healing, and Compulsion. Each character begins with a 25% chance in one talent of their choice and a 5% chance in the rest of the talents. At each level, a roll of D100 is made for each talent. If the roll is less than the current percentage the character discovers the talent. If not, add 5% to each chance and roll again next level. It is necessary to keep track of the level of expertise gained in each talent. When first discovered, the character is first level in the talent. The talent level then increases by one every time the character goes up an experience level. The abilities of each talent are as follows:

Level 1 - Can make a 1 sq. ft. gateway after being at the place of departure for 8 hours that lasts 30 seconds

Level 2 - Can make a 4 sq. ft. gateway after 4 hours at departure point that lasts 1 minute.

Level 3 - Can make a 9 sq. ft. gateway after 2 hours at departure point that lasts 2 minutes.

Level 4 - Can make a 16 sq. ft. gateway after 1 hour that lasts 5 minutes.

Level 5 - Can make a 25 sq. ft. gateway after 30 minutes that lasts 10 minutes.

Level 6 and beyond - Can make a 100 sq. ft. gateway after 15 minutes that lasts 20 minutes.

Similar ideas will be used for the other talents. Healing may be one additional point per talent level added to each die rolls in healing spells.

Healing: One Water, One Air, X Spirit

Repair d8 + X d6 damage to one

target creature

Start Fire: One Air, One Spirit, X Fire

1 - Campfire

2 - Hut/House fire

3+ - Fireball (X-2 d6 damage) 

Back to the treasure chest

Main page