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The Thinktank => Talespinning => : archangel.arcanis August 08, 2011, 02:29:37 PM

: Wheel of Time campaign ideas
: archangel.arcanis August 08, 2011, 02:29:37 PM
I've had thoughts of how I would run a WoT based game. I never have that much time to run the game so I figured I would drop off the concepts I've had here. Be warned some of this may be spoilers if you haven't read very far into the books.

1) Open up prophecies for the PCs. I came up with a few things to enable this.
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I would also expand the wolf brothers to other creatures. I would have multiple societies such as one for a type of big cat and one for one of the Seanchan animals.

I would like to include the Land of madmen as well, though almost nothing is know about it. I personally envision it as being volcanic and chaotic, with channelers of both sexes using the power in unpredictable ways. I also see it as a good location to incorporate other strange creatures and cultures. I could easily see a wolf brother society here bonded to any kind of strange creature, though I like the idea of it being a dinosaur that probably doesn't fit with many people's view of the setting.

For a rather different world view I also have a concept that is a bit strange, it involves mirror worlds. The idea is mirror worlds spin off when an important change happens in the world that could have gone differently. Given that there would be an infinite number of mirror worlds. Taking that into account and the fact that portal stones should theoretically touch all mirror worlds (this is an assumption on my part and isn't stated in the books), and have a finite amount of space on them limits the maximum number of mirror worlds. I take this concept to mean that the cycle of battle of Tarmon Gai'don is actually the consolidation of mirror worlds. With that in mind, I take some more liberties with the setting on this part, I set the Nae'Blis as the Dragon of the mirror world and the Dark One as the Creator in that World. This is contradictory to the books saying that the Creator and Dark One span across all mirror worlds. Again this is just a concept to explain some things and hopefully provide an interesting story to the players, it is especially nice to get the feel of WoT but change it enough that players who have read the books can still be surprised.
: Re: Wheel of Time campaign ideas
: archangel.arcanis August 08, 2011, 04:49:20 PM
A couple of more items I just remembered after looking at some old notes.

I saw as an alternative to the Nae'blis would be the Dark One's champion. In my case I came up with a prophecy of them being called the phoenix, it was the first suitable counterpart to a dragon that came to mind. It would be a mirror of Rand in most ways. I chose to have it be a female channeler but that she exclusively used the True Power, she would however not have the draw backs of it (much as the male forsaken are protected from the taint).

I also intended to include important Ogier into my mirror world. I intended to expand on tree singing and have them use it in conjunction with Avendorsa (sp?) at some point. I wasn't sure if I would go with them being good and aiding in the rebuilding of the world or have them be evil. For evil I planned on them trying to take over the world after the last battle. They would try and spread Avendorsa around the entire planet to make it more like their native home.
: Re: Wheel of Time campaign ideas
: wotmaniac August 11, 2011, 06:04:05 PM

  • Avat A'aien (Voice of Freedom)-Male channeler from Shara that has survived with his tounge and escaped. He will bring freedom from the Ayyad to his people.
now this has legs!!!

  • Break up the triumvirate (Dragon, Coramoor, & Car'a'carn are all different people)
  • Dragon would remain as is.
  • Coramoor would remain mostly the same, possibly add that they must have been born under the  Choedan Kal on Tremalking.
  • Car'a'carn would be a Tuatha'an. I also intended this person to follow the way of the leaf and with that purity allow them to discover a weave to resurrect the dead.
I think I like this, but do you have ideas for how they are supposed to interact?  (assuming, of course, that they are supposed to interact)
Perhaps even tie Avat A'aien in to this as well?

I would also expand the wolf brothers to other creatures. I would have multiple societies such as one for a type of big cat and one for one of the Seanchan animals.
I would probably restrict these to "noble" animals that have complex social organization.
For the Seanchan, I'd probably go with raken; and the morat being the "raken brothers", or some-such.
Random tangential thought: aren't elephants from Shara?  (just a brain-munchy for ya)

I would like to include the Land of madmen as well, though almost nothing is know about it. I personally envision it as being volcanic and chaotic, with channelers of both sexes using the power in unpredictable ways. I also see it as a good location to incorporate other strange creatures and cultures. I could easily see a wolf brother society here bonded to any kind of strange creature, though I like the idea of it being a dinosaur that probably doesn't fit with many people's view of the setting.
I'm thinking some sort of penal colony where male channelers (madmen = taint) have been exiled at some point in history; where the "inmates have taken over the asylum" kind of thing.  Perhaps, at some point, they managed to capture and bond some of the female channelers that supervised their transport (thus explaining how a culture managed to grow/thrive).


The idea is mirror worlds spin off when an important change happens in the world that could have gone differently. Given that there would be an infinite number of mirror worlds. Taking that into account and the fact that portal stones should theoretically touch all mirror worlds (this is an assumption on my part and isn't stated in the books),
this is touched upon in TGH, so it isn't a far stretch.  (also, remember that Jordan's degree was in physics ....) 
I guess it's just a matter of how far down the wormhole you want to go. :drums 
and have a finite amount of space on them limits the maximum number of mirror worlds. I take this concept to mean that the cycle of battle of Tarmon Gai'don is actually the consolidation of mirror worlds. With that in mind, I take some more liberties with the setting on this part, I set the Nae'Blis as the Dragon of the mirror world and the Dark One as the Creator in that World. This is contradictory to the books saying that the Creator and Dark One span across all mirror worlds. Again this is just a concept to explain some things and hopefully provide an interesting story to the players, it is especially nice to get the feel of WoT but change it enough that players who have read the books can still be surprised.
I see a scenario where the Dark One has broken free and somehow imprisoned the Creator.  Fast forward some time later (allowing entropy to take it's course), when someone discovers a "thin spot in the pattern", and play some sort of "reverse" of the cannon prophesies.
Does that even make sense?  (I mean, it does to me; I'm just not sure if I got my point across, or if it's a cohesive one)

A couple of more items I just remembered after looking at some old notes.

I saw as an alternative to the Nae'blis would be the Dark One's champion. In my case I came up with a prophecy of them being called the phoenix, it was the first suitable counterpart to a dragon that came to mind. It would be a mirror of Rand in most ways. I chose to have it be a female channeler but that she exclusively used the True Power, she would however not have the draw backs of it (much as the male forsaken are protected from the taint).

I also intended to include important Ogier into my mirror world. I intended to expand on tree singing and have them use it in conjunction with Avendorsa (sp?) at some point. I wasn't sure if I would go with them being good and aiding in the rebuilding of the world or have them be evil. For evil I planned on them trying to take over the world after the last battle. They would try and spread Avendorsa around the entire planet to make it more like their native home.
This would all depend on what type of over-all theme/narrative you were going for.


Over-all, I really like this.  I've long tried to wrack my brain for ways to run a WoT game without it coming off as overly-contrived/railroady.  This really has my wheels spinning again (no pun intended).
: Re: Wheel of Time campaign ideas
: Lycanthromancer August 11, 2011, 09:25:33 PM
Crunch-wise, I suggest running an all-psionics campaign, except the psionic classes count as arcane AND divine for the purposes of qualifying for PrCs (so that way you can go jade phoenix mage, or whatever).

I also suggest you use my psionic powers revision (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=3080.msg96084#msg96084). There's some good stuff in there, and I included a few things that make sense in a WoT world. Though I didn't add balefire. Perhaps that's not something a PC should have, or...I guess you could add it if you like.
: Re: Wheel of Time campaign ideas
: wotmaniac August 12, 2011, 03:27:53 AM
I like the psionic system for WoT (hell, every detailed description of channeling fucking demands it); but they already have they're spell lists -- just convert the base model.
: Re: Wheel of Time campaign ideas
: archangel.arcanis August 12, 2011, 12:01:56 PM
To answer your question Wotmaniac:
1) Interaction of the separated triumvirate. They would have to interact some unless you changed the prophecies as there tends to be some overlap. Off the top of my head I would say that they all need to be at the fall of the Stone of Tear and likely some others. Beyond that I intended them to be either members of the party with PCs playing their roles, or if one roll wasn't feasible then that character would be an NPC that was often pulled into events around the party. If your players don't want to be one of these people just make sure to let news of them doing miraculous things get to them, as you would news of Rand's actions. In the end they serve the same purpose as Rand, to destroy the current social order and build a new one.

2) Elephants I believe are from both Shara and Seanchan. I know the Seanchan use them in war and are called S'redit there. Shara doesn't have very much info but I do know they export ivory so they likely have them as well.

ok there were less actual questions that I thought there were.
: Re: Wheel of Time campaign ideas
: Lycanthromancer August 12, 2011, 03:48:39 PM
I always thought that Seandar and Shara were very closely related (such as colonials that split off from the main colonies). Or perhaps they were the original peoples of the countries that Hawkwing's son displaced that didn't want to be assimilated.
: Re: Wheel of Time campaign ideas
: archangel.arcanis August 12, 2011, 04:27:36 PM
I always thought that Seandar and Shara were very closely related (such as colonials that split off from the main colonies). Or perhaps they were the original peoples of the countries that Hawkwing's son displaced that didn't want to be assimilated.
Assuming the wiki  (http://wot.wikia.com/wiki/Shara)is accurate, No.
[spoiler]
: Wiki
It is known that Shara was united as one nation shortly after the Breaking of the World and has endured until the present day. Shara suffered during the Trolloc Wars, although the extent and duration of the invasion and the damage it caused is unknown. The Sharans themselves claim to have never suffered political upheaval or civil war, and most also deny that the Trollocs invaded their land, although a few isolated reports that they did suffer an invasion also exist....

In FY 993, Artur Hawkwing dispatched a large fleet to invade Shara under the command of one of his daughters. This fleet was equal in size to the one he sent to Seanchan the year before, meaning it consisted of up to 2,000 ships and possibly as many as 300,000 troops.[3] The Sea Folk recorded at the time that the invasion force had successfully landed in several locations on the western and southern coasts of Shara. However, later reports suggested that the ships were ablaze in the bays and inlets where they had landed, indicating the invasion had been defeated. To this day, Sharan traders deny all knowledge of such an invasion taking place.
[/spoiler]
: Re: Wheel of Time campaign ideas
: veekie August 12, 2011, 05:11:44 PM
Hmm, I'm thinking you can split it all into five continents in total.

Seandar - Culturally as Imperial China, with black people who talk like texans. Channelers as a sub caste of people(gamer concerns, spellcaster players are advised to play a sul'dam, which would come with a spellcasting, human familiar she casts through). Power usage high, damane are regularly used for mining, fireworks and presumably healing. Magic item creation is a stagnant art, only used for creating leashes.
Significant usage of exotic beasts, with individual animal types having their own beastmasters.
Wilderness is tamed, primary hazards are social in nature.
Government structure appears to be provincial, with greater overt conflict further from the seat of government.

Unnamed Main Continent - Nation states ala Ancient Greece, culturally varied. Channelers are a Big Deal, but magic usage level is low due to the Tower. Most arts are lost in that regard, but enjoys superior alchemy from Illuminators. Conflict level varies, but there is significant areas of wilderness and unclaimed lands, as well as critters and small armies to hide inside them.

Shara - Insular nation. Presumably high magic usage and social prominence. Strong military(possibly with channelers), sufficient to completely disperse a Seanchan invasion. Insufficient Details.

The Blight(inc Borderlands) - Frontier lands. Threats are external, with extreme environments, monsters and armies. Politically calmer than the other lands. Channelers have relatively high social standing and applicability, though mostly its applied to asploding things of the Blight. Magic item production is active, but thats for the Shadow.

Land of Madmen - ???

Fill these out properly and we have a campaign setting outline I think.
: Re: Wheel of Time campaign ideas
: Tleilaxu_Ghola August 15, 2011, 08:28:03 PM
Imo, it's a good idea to avoid having active Ta'veren in the setting.  Whenever I've thought about the idea of making a WoT setting, and I've thought about it a lot, I usually place things post-Rand.  That lets me have some guns and tech/alch in the setting to act as a balance against the all powerful One Power.

The biggest challenge with WoT settings is the lack of monsters, unless you're going to make a blight crusading campaign or have it take place off the main continent, but then you may as well not call it homebrew with a hint of WoT if you're going to do that.
: Re: Wheel of Time campaign ideas
: Lycanthromancer August 15, 2011, 10:19:54 PM
Imo, it's a good idea to avoid having active Ta'veren in the setting.  Whenever I've thought about the idea of making a WoT setting, and I've thought about it a lot, I usually place things post-Rand.  That lets me have some guns and tech/alch in the setting to act as a balance against the all powerful One Power.

The biggest challenge with WoT settings is the lack of monsters, unless you're going to make a blight crusading campaign or have it take place off the main continent, but then you may as well not call it homebrew with a hint of WoT if you're going to do that.
Well, the Land of Madmen could easily be filled with monsters of all kinds.

Some kind of emanation there mutates everything after a few generations, and it could very well be from some sort of tear between worlds.
: Re: Wheel of Time campaign ideas
: Tleilaxu_Ghola August 16, 2011, 12:28:22 AM
Imo, it's a good idea to avoid having active Ta'veren in the setting.  Whenever I've thought about the idea of making a WoT setting, and I've thought about it a lot, I usually place things post-Rand.  That lets me have some guns and tech/alch in the setting to act as a balance against the all powerful One Power.

The biggest challenge with WoT settings is the lack of monsters, unless you're going to make a blight crusading campaign or have it take place off the main continent, but then you may as well not call it homebrew with a hint of WoT if you're going to do that.
Well, the Land of Madmen could easily be filled with monsters of all kinds.

Some kind of emanation there mutates everything after a few generations, and it could very well be from some sort of tear between worlds.

Land of the Madmen?  It's been two years since my last real read-through, but I don't remember that.
: Re: Wheel of Time campaign ideas
: Lycanthromancer August 16, 2011, 01:04:35 AM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheel_of_Time_locations#The_Land_of_Madmen ?
: Re: Wheel of Time campaign ideas
: Tleilaxu_Ghola August 16, 2011, 01:48:57 AM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheel_of_Time_locations#The_Land_of_Madmen ?
So, basically, a blank slate portion of the land that wasn't developed in the novels?  How is this different than producing a setting in Shara or Seandar?  At least those have a little bit of detail from the novels, particularly the latter.

Remember the second part of what I said:
unless you're going to make a blight crusading campaign or have it take place off the main continent, but then you may as well not call it homebrew with a hint of WoT if you're going to do that.

I am mainly saying that monsters (outside of wolves and blight creatures) don't appear to exist on the main continent, which well over 95% of the story takes place.  Why do I care about that main continent?  Because I guess when I think WoT, that's the very first thing I think of.  It's also the most well developed in terms of people, places, and general setting material.  What I was trying to say is that on the Main Continent, you're shoe horned into either blight fighting or human vs human encounters.  The former is fine, but there isn't a lot of variety in blight creatures; at least not in the published ones.  The problem with human vs human campaigns is that you have a lot of NPC combat.  D&D source material isn't very well built for that, in my opinion.  Whenever I've run human vs. human encounters with canned NPCs out of the DMG tables I have problems with encounters both being too easy and loot rewards being far too high.  So then I usually end up having to spend a lot of time optimizing the NPCs to be sufficiently challenging, while not being repetitive.  It drags down my prep time a lot if I have to create several unique NPCs just to flesh out an encounter.
: Re: Wheel of Time campaign ideas
: veekie August 16, 2011, 05:33:01 AM
Imo, it's a good idea to avoid having active Ta'veren in the setting.  Whenever I've thought about the idea of making a WoT setting, and I've thought about it a lot, I usually place things post-Rand.  That lets me have some guns and tech/alch in the setting to act as a balance against the all powerful One Power.

The biggest challenge with WoT settings is the lack of monsters, unless you're going to make a blight crusading campaign or have it take place off the main continent, but then you may as well not call it homebrew with a hint of WoT if you're going to do that.
I personally would consider a Ta'veren to be a code word for Player Character. Strength is simply the level of DM interference.

As for timelines. I can see several good breakpoints on the main continent.

The War of the Shadow - Final Years.
Before the Hundred Companions' final, fatal strike, lots of shadowspawn of all sorts, active evil overlords, lots of magic items available for the martial folks, as well as the way of the sword reaching its first peak.
Very good for an action oriented campaign, though from what I gather armies are modern in nature(highly mobile strike forces with channelers rather than grand marches).

The Breaking
Post Apocalyptic. Nuff said. Help to hold one of the final bastions of civilization against the inevitable collapse.

The Trolloc Wars
Like the War of the Shadow, but less magic overall. Politics also apply, as nations try to gain an advantage.

Hawkwing.
Golden Age,  combat oriented games go to the blight, but politics. Oh the politics.

Sundering of nations.
Right after Hawkwing falls. Monsters come out of the woodwork, the empire is broken and people squabble for scraps.

Age of the Dragon.
The Dragon is Reborn and horrors walk the world once more. While the Dragon is the star of the show, many heroes are also needed to play their roles, or the world ends anyway.

Dragon's Victory.
Looks like a second Age of Legends winding up, but insufficient info.


Mechanically, I'm thinking a good class defense bonus system should be in place, possibly combined with Armor as Damage Reduction and building ability score increase benefits into leveling(you don't necessarily need to raise a score per se, just give a bonus to hit, bonus to damage, DCs, etc). Something needs to be done about the lack of WBL as well, perhaps replace WBL with special traits you can purchase. Like feats, only less limited.


EDIT:
Ooo, I got it.
For Channeling, use Spirit Shaman style. Power Point casting from a prepared list of Weaves from your Weaves known list.
Learning new weaves costs from WBL(accomplishment points? whatever we call it).
Gaining Talents costs from WBL
Gaining unique artifacts(angreal, terangreal, the Shadar Logoth Dagger) costs from WBL
Absurd luck costs from WBL.
Blade moves/stances cost from WBL(each move is a special attack, with some preconditions for execution).