So, I started working on a Wheel of Time setting last week (the week of May 23). I started by compiling the lore and descriptions of nations, peoples, and locations. As I have mostly finished the Lore of the setting and have switched over to the Genesys Mechanics, it truly dawned on me that I don't need to go this alone and I really should see if anyone else is working on the building the setting. So...

Is anyone else working on the Wheel of Time setting? I have been building mine using iBooks Author so I saved it as a PDF. I know I could use GM Binder for a much better look and feel. But I haven't taken the time to figure that out. So here is what I have so far and this is by no means near complete ...

Updated May 28th 2018

• PDF: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EOAs-Yr8EY0DHMpDqPAZh1sH4SNy0hNA/view?usp=sharing
• iBook: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NFNepBafjdkr_OYpRP8Sj-v4RFlgl9uy/view?usp=sharing
• These updates primarily center around changing the formatting from Landscape to Portrait, adjusting the margins for better printing, and adding a Table of Contents to the PDF. This is still very much under construction with most of Chapter 2 needing to be created (which is the mechanics of the system), all of Chapter 4 needing to be created (which are NPCs), and a scattering of missing Lore throughout (though the Lore sections are mostly done).

I welcome any feed back, and if anyone is already working on it, then I would love to collaborate as I know this can be a huge project. If no one is working on this setting and there is anyone who would love to work with me on this project then I definitely welcome the help.

I did a quick look through. It looks like your off to a good start. Its clean and well organized. You've put in a lot of work with 142 pages and still quite a bit more to go. For what its worth, there is no margin for printing. If this is printed then the words will almost go right to the binding and hole punching is right out. If this was only 20 pages or so, it might not matter as a staple in the corner would work but this is a pretty hefty document. Margins should be at least 0.5 inches from inside. Personally, I am not a fan of landscape formatting but do whatever works best for you.

Thanks for the feedback. I didn't really format it or think about that at all. I just used the default settings of iBook Author. I will play around with the formatting and more than likely change it from Landscape. It didn't really phase me as I was working on it until I just now actually looked at the PDF. Yeah, I will definitely nix the Landscape.

Hi! I have a bucket load of disjointed and random notes about putting this setting together, all in my phones notes app, so I’ll just dump it all here in one post for you to steal from (or see the wrong way to do it!)

Skill list

General:

Alchemy

Athletics

Cool

Coordination

Craft

Discipline

Driving

Medicine

Operating

Perception

Resilience

Riding

Skullduggery

Stealth

Streetwise

Survival

Vigilance

Social:

Charm

Coercion

Deception

Leadership

Negotiation

Combat:

Brawl

Melee (light)

Melee (heavy)

Ranged

Siege

Knowledge:

Education

The One Power

Outdoors

Cosmopolitan

Shadowspawn

Weaving:

Initiate (Intellect): a Trained channeller

Wilder (Presence): for an untrained channeller

Weavesight (Cunning): for studying and learning weaves

Next is a list of Archetypes based on birthplace, I actually don’t think I like this option even though it should be the right one. The problem I keep running into is that the origin of a person doesn’t really impact their particular abilities (perhaps other than Aiel and Atha’an Miere). So consider this part just a thought experiment.

Aiel

2/2/2/3/2/1; 12+Wounds, 10+Strain; 1 rank Survival; Ji’e’toh (recover 1 additional Strain at the end of an encounter in which you met toh and thus gain honour, ie meeting obligation. Recover one less strain at the end of an encounter in which you have incurred toh and thus lost honour, ie owing a new obligation to someone)

Atha’an Miere

2/3/2/1/2/2; 10+WT, 12+ST; 1 rank in Cool and Operating; Sea Legs (ignore 2 Environmental Setback when onboard a boat or ship)

Borderlander

3/2/2/2/2/1; 12+WT 8+ST; 1 rank in Ride; Ever Vigilant (always use Vigilance for Combat Initiative)

Cairhienin

1/2/2/2/2/3; 9+WT, 12+ST; 1 rank in Deception, Hidden Meanings (remove one setback from any check to pass on or interpret coded messages, either spoken or written)

Domani

2/1/2/2/2/3 10+WT, 12+ST, 1 rank in Deception, Seductive (remove 1 Setback from all social checks where being attractive in the targets eyes would be beneficial)

Ebou Dari

2/2/1/2/2/3; 11+WT, 10+ST; 1 rank Streetwise, Duelist (1 boost to cool checks, reduce the Crit Rating of any weapon used in the first round of any combat by 1 to a minimum of 1)

Illianer

2/2/2/2/1/3; 10+WT, 10+ST; 1 rank in any knowledge skill, 1 rank in Negotiation

Midlander

2/2/1/2/3/2; 11+WT, 10+ST,

Seanchan

2/2/2/1/3/2

Tairen

2/1/2/2/3/2

Tar Valoner

2/2/2/2/2/2

Taraboner

2/2/1/3/2/2

Ogier

4/1/2/2/2/1

Next Archetypes as human sub races

120xp target, after players choice of placing these characteristics 3/2/2/2/2/1 wherever they want and then choosing 1 free skill rank.

Aiel

11 Wounds, 12 Strain.

95xp

Gain 1 rank in Survival and Melee (Light), can’t exceed 2 ranks during creation.

Ji’e’toh: Gain a debt of 4 toh to one character, preferably an NPC. You can choose to gain a second debt of 4 toh for an additional 10xp to spend during character creation. (Uses the Obligation system from EotE but is a purely personal thing, only roll for yourself, if your total toh exceeds 20 you can’t spend xp, if your toh is triggered only you suffer the strain penalty)

Altaran

12 Wounds, 10 Strain

105xp

1 rank in Streetwise and Melee (Light), can’t exceed 2 ranks during creation.

Duelist: Gain a boost dice to cool checks, reduce the Crit Rating of any weapon used in the first round of any combat by 1 to a minimum of 1.

Andoran

10 Wounds, 11 Strain

105 xp

Gain 1 rank in two non career skills, can’t exceed 2 ranks during creation.

Cosmopolitan: remove 1 Setback from all Streetwise and Knowledge (Urban) checks.

Amadician

12 Wounds, 9 Strain

95xp

Gain 1 rank in Coercion and Discipline

May the Children Protect: Add 1 Setback to the dice pool of any weave targeting you, weather the channeller is friend or foe.

Atha’an Miere

10 Wounds, 11 Strain

100xp

Gain 1 rank in Cool and Operate, can’t exceed 2 ranks during creation.

Drive a Hard Bargain: Once per session when you make, or are targeted by, a Negotiation Check you may spend a story point to add Advantage, or Threat, to that Negotiation Check equal to your ranks in Negotiation.

Borderlander

13 Wounds, 10 Strain

100xp

Gain 1 rank in Ride and 1 rank in either Melee (Heavy) or Ranged. Neither can exceed rank 2 during creation.

Constant Vigilance: Life is a never ending war for Borderlanders, the fight with the Shadowspawn unending. As a result they learn to be constantly vigilant, looking for threats everywhere. You may always use Vigilance to determine Initiative.

Cairhienin

10 Wounds, 12 Strain

95xp

1 rank in Deception, can’t exceed 2 ranks during creation.

Innuendo: Remove 1 Setback when attempting to pass on or receive coded messages.

Daes Dae’mar: You where born for The Great Game, the Game of Houses, the constant scheming to better your place in this world. Once per session during a social encounter you may reveal a previously unknown plan as if you were spending a Story Point. This plan may cause the downfall of a direct opponent, or perhaps it may improve your standing with someone of importance, whatever the case you are the one who benefits from the change to the narrative.

Domani

9 Wounds, 11 Strain

110xp

1 Rank in Charm and Negotiation, can’t exceed 2 ranks during creation.

Seductive: once per session when making a social skill check use Charm instead of any other social skill.

Illianer

10 Wounds, 11 Strain

1 Rank in a non career skill

Midlander

11 Wounds, 10 Strain

105xp

1 rank in Resilience, 1 rank in any career skill.

Luck of Heroes: Once per session during an encounter your character may turn one GM story point to a Player Story Point (the normal human ability)

Tairen

10 Wounds, 11 Strain

100xp

Gain 1 rank in Cool, also gain 1 rank in either Commanding Presence (remove 1 Setback from Leadership and Cool per rank) or Resolve (suffer 1 less Strain per rank when involuntarily suffering Strain)

Well Equipped: Start with an additional 500cr worth of equipment.

Tar Valoner

10 Wounds, 10 Strain

110xp

1 rank in a Knowledge skill of your choice and 1 rank in Discipline.

Something about dealing with institutes of learning

Taraboner

1 rank in Alchemy and Knowledge (Education)

Then finally I have the skeleton of a magic system:

The one power is woven using the fundamental system in Genesys, with the addition of an upgrade system where the number of elements used for that weave Upgrades the difficulty that many times. It also introduces a Critical system tied to Strain, with the worst fate being Stilling. The third addition to the system is a requirement to embrace the source before being able to channel, this also includes the iconic Block that many weavers have to tackle.

To be a magic user a character needs to embrace the source, this requires an “Embrace the Source” Action, your character makes a Hard Discipline Check and if successful they embrace the source, gaining all the benefits that entails.

To remove the block and make embracing the source quicker and easier a Weaver Talent is added:

T3 Weaver to remove the Block.

T4 Improved Weaver to reduce that to Manoeuvre

T5 Supreme Weaver to reduce embracing the source to an Incidental.

Weaving Skills:

Weavesight (Cunning): Used to identify weaves that have been cast, to understand those weaves, and to understand what other channellers are doing with the One Power.

Trained (Intellect): Channeling weaves thought through the strictures of practice and education, you form your weaves based on the training that other channellers have put you through. This could be from the White Tower, a Wise One Apprenticeship, or any other formal training

Wilder (Willpower): Your sheer determination to help others has manifested in your abilities, you probably have no idea how the weaves happen or what you are truly doing, but you are capable of extraordinary things when required.

At its most basic you make a Skill check to weave, with the Difficulty based on weave. Upgrade the check for each element beyond one required for the spell. The upgrades can be mitigated with talents. Many of the additional effects should be unknown and require at least a successful Weavesight check to be able to learn it.

Key areas to hit in designing spells:

Balefire

Cloud Dancing

Conjunction

Elementalism

Healing

Illusion

Traveling

Warding

Spells:

Attack

Basic does simple damage with a single element (chosen element guides it’s actual appearance; eg firebolt, exploding rock, water column, slicing blades of air, tearing flesh)

D Range effect (Air)

D Hidden Damage (Spirit) that hides the damage internally.

Additional effects for each element:

Fire(Fire)

Blast (Fire + Air)

Impact (Water or Earth)

Auto-Fire (Air & Spirit)

Strain Damage (Water & Spirit)

Empowered (adds 2 more elements)

Destructive (Spirit & Air

DDD Upgrade for Balefire that has minimum Crit of 150, can be Autofire too, and requires all 5 Elements.

Heal

Basic; Delve, can diagnose injuries

Upgrade for healing Wounds

Upgrade for healing Strain

Upgrade for Critical Injuries

Upgrade for Insanities

Upgrade for improved healing

Sever

Basic Shield from the source

Upgrade Target is embracing the true source

Upgrade target is opposite sex

Upgrade Sever from the source

Big Upgrade Restore the Power

Warding

Basic for Sound or vision (2 Advantage for both)

Range (size of ward area)

Dream shield

The one power

Against people

Against shadowspawn

(The last three upgrades combined form a master shield against everything)

Seal

Basic; lock object

Upgrade trap seal

Magnitude (number of objects sealed)

Strength (size of object sealed)

Conjunction

Basic read thoughts

Compulsion

Traveling

Basic Create gateway to in between place with platform just inside, Silhouette 1

Upgrade Strength (Silhouette of gateway/platform)

Upgrade Duration (length of time gateway stays open)

Big Upgrade (direct travel to place either visible from where you are or a place you know well)

Big Upgrade Bridge between worlds (can enter the dream world)

Illusion

Basic minor Disguise self

Upgrade folded light: conceal an area with a screen instead

Upgrade cast on other

Upgrade growth of self (mirrored mists)(gain bonus to intimidate, minions Disoriented)

Upgrade Strength better disguise, bigger growth or larger screen

Control Element:

Basic; sense a nearby element, or movement of that element (the direction of air flow, movement of water at the bottom of a river, a specific nearby metal deposit, the source of heat or fire)

Upgrade: guide, shift or shape a Silhouette zero piece of an element (Eg create a small stream of water out of a cup or to fill a cup from a jug, move a small rock, create a light gust of air, light a candle flame) single element only and limited.

Magnitude; influence a larger volume, 1 Difficulty per Silhouette

Increase; strengthen an active element (make wind stronger, current faster, fire bigger, ground tremor.)

Diminish; reduce the strength of an active element (slow wind or current, reduce flame, dampen ground tremor)

Enhance; combine multiple elements for a more specific effect. (Air+Fire= warm air, Air+Water= fog, ect)

Range; influence element further away

Duration; the change lasts longer

Talents:

Tie off weave

Invert weave

Unravel weave

Ward Bore

Use Portal Stone

Extended Vision/Hearing

Enhanced Voice

Element proficiency talents, repeat for each of the 5 elements

Fire Proficiency: T2; Ignore 1 Setback on any weave where you have a Proficiency in all elements channelled.

Fire Proficiency (Improved): T3; Never count the Fire element when calculating the number of upgrades to a weaving check.

Fire Proficiency (Supreme): T4; choose a single additional effect for a single Weave that uses the Fire Element and normally adds a single difficulty to the check, never increase the difficulty of a Weave Check when adding that effect.

Now for feedback on your book, it’s awesome! The effort you have put into the background and layout are excellent, something I simply could never get time to do. Definitely fix the Landscape and border issues, but otherwise it’s really great

Wow!! This is great! Thank you so much for sharing! @Richardbuxton O nce I have time to sit down and sift through everything, I will definitely want to pick your brain on some of this.

I figured out my formatting issues and it had to do with the iBook template I chose. I chose a Landscape template (obviously) but because I chose Landscape, I cannot convert it to Portrait (unless anyone out there knows iBook Author and could tell me how to do it). So I am going to have to rebuild this into a Portrait template. Fortunately it should just be a matter of copying and pasting and adjusting the font sizes, but it will take me a little longer to fix the formatting than I was hoping.

So stay tuned everyone for a better layout!

Ok, I updated the formatting (I hope). If there are still issues with the formatting, then I'm going to abandon iBooks and just build it in Pages.

Now back to actually working on the Setting...

@Richardbuxton I have a couple of questions before tackling the major question of Channeling.

1) What were your thoughts on the Siege skill? Was this in just operating a siege weapon or more in running a tactical encounter of laying siege to a location?

2) In regards to Archetypes based on Birthplace, that was the direction I was going to go in as well, though I am intrigued by your suggestion of giving the predetermined numbers of 3/2/2/2/2/1 and letting the player allocate them however they want. With this model, would granting 120 starting XP be too much? For the standard Human Race, it is usually 110XP with all 2s. Also, the one free skill rank, would that be any skill or nor non-career skills only?

1. Siege was intended for Siege Weapons; ballista, catapult, trebuchet, but mostly I added it for Alana’s Dragons.

2. The 120 figure was just a note, a change for the “making an archetype” rules at the back of the core book. I felt I was adding quite a few abilities to each sub species and, using the usual 100xp from the book, I was constantly ending up with 80xp left. It’s essentially increasing the power level of starting characters by about 10-20xp, but I never intended for any Archetype to have all 120 available to spend.

The Skill was just a note too, it could probably be removed and it would be better balanced.

With full disclosure I started out with the D20 WoT RPG book as a basis, things then just evolved from there. I even considered making the full list of background abilities from that book and just give the players choice of a short list for each background, I dropped that though for better diversity.

Magic is challenging, bringing the Elements system in is very difficult because everyone has the ability to weave every element to an extent, but being good at them all is basically unheard of. The idea of Upgrades was brought about by the desire for a Insanity/Over Channeling system; a Despair = roll on the Over Channel table, exceed your Strain Threshold whilst embracing the source = roll on the Over channel table.

I totally forgot about Alana's Dragons and having the Siege skill would work for that. Tho, in an effort to keep the skills a little simple, it could just be a Leadership check to command the crew manning the siege weapon to load, aim, and fire accurately and they succeed/fail based off of your check.

I didn't even know there was a WoT RPG until last week when I started working on this. And for the sake of full disclosure, all of the Lore pieces in my Setting, I copied from the WoT wikia http://wot.wikia.com (I did mention this in my Introduction, if anyone ever reads those). I did some rearranging of some of the info and changed a few sentence structures to make everything flow a little better, but none of that was my brain child. So I will give credit where credit is due.

Regarding magic, I agree that this has been challenging. I've gone through several iterations of this. I like the idea you mentioned in your notes about having the Channeler make a Discipline check to see if they can embrace the Source and then having Talents that reduce the time it takes to Embrace the Source. That fits well into what I had been thinking about Trained Channelers and Wilders.

My thought was to have only one skill for magic and that is the Channeling skill based on Intellect. Since all Channelers (even Wilders) can use the One Power, I combined all the spell casting types into one skill. Then my next thought was to have two trained Careers for Channelers (though the exact look I'm not settled on). One would be a Female Channeler career where the player would choose either Aes Sedai, Windfinder (for Atha'an Miere only), or Wise One (for Aiel only) and then have an Asha'man career. These would be the only careers that gain access to the Channeling skill.

I made a Wilder talent that gives you access to the Channeling skill as a career skill (so anyone can learn to Channel), however you have the infamous Block to deal with. Since I hadn't considered having a check to see if you could embrace the Source before weaving any magic I just made it increase the difficulty of all Channeling checks.

So here are my thoughts on the Channeling Talents:

• Wilder
  • Tier: 2
  • Activation: Passive
  • The Channeling skill is now a Career skill but you have a Block and so increase the difficulty by one of all Discipline checks made to Embrace the Source.
• Wilder (Improved)
  • Tier: 4 or 5?
  • Activation: Passive
  • Must have purchased the Wilder Talent. You overcome your Block and no longer increase the difficulty of checks made to Embrace the Source.
• Weaver
  • Tier: 3
  • Activation: Passive
  • Embracing the Source is now a Maneuver instead of an Action.
• Weaver (Improved)
  • Tier: 5
  • Activation: Passive
  • Must have purchased the Weaver talent. Embracing the Source is now an Incidental instead of a Maneuver.

Thoughts on that?

I also thought that for male Channelers for every (round?, encounter?) that they embraced the Source they would have to make a Discipline check (not sure of difficulty) and if they fail they would suffer 2 strain because of the Taint (if playing before it was cleansed).

For all Channelers, to let go of the Source would require an Average Discipline check as the Source is addictive and there was always the theme of people not wanting to let go and sad when they did. If they failed the check then they would suffer 2 strain and still be embracing the Source. Though I'm not sure about this idea.

Is the Over Channeling system like the Critical Injuries table?

I think the Wilder Talent is a solid idea, making a Block and the Discipline check to deal with it a part of the base mechanics is great too, making the Weaver talent much better.

I was definitely thinking of multiple channeler careers, the three female you mentioned are definitely different enough to warrant it, I also think a Seanchan Damane could be its own.

For Channeling Skills I have had a bunch of different ideas, nothing seemed perfect. Initially I thought each element would use a different skill, but how do you then combine 4 different elements in a simple way?

Next I thought about the different groups who use the One Power (Aes Sedai, Wise One, Wavefinder, Damane, Wisdoms and the Kin) and looked if I could identify different approaches that would suggest different characteristics. But what do you call the different skills since some use the same characteristic.

Third I thought perhaps female use Intellect whilst men use Willpower but that didn’t fit right either.

Finaly I got to where you are, one skill using intellect and that’s it. Male channelers before the cleaning would have much worse consequences for rolling Threat, and perhaps a unique Overchanneling table just for them

That gets on to the Overchannelling table idea, I had imagined it being the same format as the Critical Injuries table. Low rolls would have minor and temporary effects, easy to remove with a Discipline check just as Crit injuries are recovered from with Resilience. The upper rolls would have much more severe consequences, things like Setback when using a certain element, potentially insanity (definitely for males before the cleansing) and obviously the dreaded Stilling at 150+

Tgat system then opens up options for weaves to cause over Channeling effects and weaves to heal them. It also gives a great mechanical reason not to exceed your Strain Threshold!

18 hours ago, Richardbuxton said:

Male channelers before the cleaning would have much worse consequences for rolling Threat, and perhaps a unique Overchanneling table just for them 

I like the Over-channeling table. I think you would almost need two different tables as you mentioned, one for men and one for women (which would then be the only table after Saidin is cleansed).

I've been trying to think through long term effects on men Embracing the Source. There should be some effects that keep stacking and can't be healed even after Saidin is cleansed. A thought would be to add insanity items on the male Over-channeling table but then you could conceivably run an entire campaign where your male channeler never suffers any side effects. Which to some extent is fine, but if one Embraces the Source a lot, there would be some negative side effects even if they were minor.

Another thought would be for all channelers to use the same Over-channeling table but then male channelers have a separate Insanity/Taint table that they have to role on. Like you mentioned above, some of the lower rolls are less severe while the higher rolls are harsh, maybe, lashing out at your closest companions with the One Power for 130+. As I'm typing this, maybe you have an Insanity pool and every time you roll on the table you gain 2 Insanity points which never go away and they add to your total die roll each time. Thus making each subsequent roll a little more dangerous. I could, theoretically Embrace the Source 10 times and only have to roll on it twice but I then have an Insanity pool of 4 so the third time I end up rolling on it, I would add 4 to the total. I figure 2 would be a good number as some male Channelers are more resistant to the Taint than others, but eventually all will go Insane if given enough time.

This would also hopefully make any player playing a male Channeler count the cost before Channeling.

Perhaps each Threat automatically inflicts a Strain on a male channeler, plus any normal effects.

That Insanity Point ideais really solid too, I could imagine there’s a weave that can reduce it since Nynaeve figures out a way really late in the series, but it should be a completely unknown thing and probably 8 Difficulty (therefore impossible without significant talents in the Healing Talent)

I like the idea of a rare weave that could reduce some of the Taint on a person but because it is so rare it is incredibly difficult.

So to try putting it together:

1. I want to Embrace the Source, I make a Hard Discipline check as an action. If is succeed I Embrace the Source. If I fail I don't.
   • ? Success + Threat = Strain ?
   • ? Failure + Threat = a delay in being able to try again or Strain ? Maybe 1 Threat = 1 round delayed. 2+ Threat = at least 1 round delayed and at least 1 Strain? I know in the books those who can channel get stressed out when they can't embrace the source for whatever reason. Maybe have a higher Tier Talent that prevents Strain? Or just have the PC rank up their Discipline and a Talent that reduces the Embrace the Source action to an Average difficulty?
   • For male channelers who succeed with Threat , should they just suffer Strain as they have to "reach through" the Taint to seize Saidin, but with enough Threat then they roll on the Insanity table?
   • ? Success + Despair = You Embrace the Source but you can't control it and you have to spend your next action submitting to Saidar for women and wrestling with Saidin for men so in effect you loose your next turn?
   • Failure + Despair = cannot try again this encounter?
2. I succeed in Embracing the Source, now I can weave
   • I make a Channeling check
   • Success + Threat = Strain or any negative side effects the GM wants to create.
     • For Women, with enough Threat they have to roll on the Over-channeling table
     • For men though it is an automatic Strain and any negative side effects from the GM unless the GM just wants it to be Strain in which case the GM only applies it once and doesn't double up
       • So I roll 1 Threat and my GM can't/doesn't want to determine anything other than Strain, I only get hit with one Strain, not two
       • With enough Threat, as a male character, I have to roll on the Insanity table or just the Over-channeling table or both?
   • Failure + Threat = Fun for the GM
   • Success + Despair = automatic roll on the Over-Channeling Table and for men, auto rolling on both Over-Channeling and Insanity tables?
   • Failure + Despair = A lot of Fun for the GM. I see weaves exploding and causing craziness
3. I want to let go of the Source so I make an Average Discipline check as an Incidental.
   • My thought with this is that you see the theme over and over again (especially for those still learning to Channel) where they don't want to let go of the Source as it has an almost addictive quality to it. I think I remember an Aes Sedai cutting one of the girls off from the Source as she was struggling to give it up, though I could just be imagining that
   • If I fail then I am still embracing the Source and the next time it will take an action to let go.
   • I see Threats adding Strain or setback dice if they have to try again
   • I think there could be a Talent that would either reduce the check to Easy or even remove the check altogether.

My concern is making it very complicated and complex but at the same time I want to capture the spirit and flavor of the Setting. Embracing the Source is very dangerous and difficult for newbies and is still dangerous for those well trained in it.

I don't think making a discipline chek for both embracing and letting go Saidar / Saidin is good. In WoT everything related to magic is very gender specific. Women embrace the Source while men bind it to their will. When you read what women channellers say about embracing saidar (or is it saidin for women ?) it is letting it flow through them and cooperate to weave waves. While for men it is a struggle to dominate saidin (or is it saidar for men ?) and force it to weave waves. I'd prefer a check based on Presence, since it's the social characteristic, for women when they embrace the source. And for men a check based on willpower when they embrace the source. But a discipline check for women to let go the Source seems ok with what is said about the addictiveness of it. On the other hand it seems the exact opposite for men who are relieved to let go the Source. That's what we ear Rands and other male channellers say before the cleansing of the Taint. I don't remember if it change after it. But given how Jordan opposes genders in everything I've strong doubt about it. I could even imagine the characteristic used by women to embrace the Source is the characteristic used by men to let go the Source, and the characteristic used by men to bind the Source is the characteristic used by women to let go the Source.

Okay, it has been crazy busy with very little time for me to work on my setting, but here are the setting specific Talents I have created with a couple of them created by @Richardbuxton so thank you for that!

I welcome any feedback on these, especially the Tiers and whether or not I may have ranked them too high or too low. If anyone thinks there should be other Talents that capture Wheel of Time flavor, please share!

Darkfriend

• Tier: 1
• Activation: Active (Action)
• Ranked: No
• When you take this talent, you immediately become a low level Darkfriend. You are able to make a Hard Knowledge (Forbidden) check to determine if another character is a Darkfriend. In addition, if you encounter a Myrddraal, it will not attack you unless attacked by you (other Shadowspawn are a different matter). However, if you are accused of being a Darkfriend you will upgrade the check made to convince anyone that you are not (in addition to additional upgrades determined by the GM).

Darkfriend (Improved)

• Tier: 3
• Activation: Passive
• Ranked: No
• Your character must have purchased the Darkfriend talent to benefit from this talent. Your status with the Shadow has been raised to a midlevel Darkfriend. You are placed in control over a number of Darkfriend minions equal to your ranks in Knowledge (Forbidden) . How you use them is up to you. However, you will receive orders periodically from the Shadow (as determined by your GM) to perform various tasks. Failure to comply with your orders may result in a midnight visit by a Myrddraal or worse. If your minions die or you increase ranks in Knowledge (Forbidden) , once per session, you may flip a Story Point to gain one minion. The total minions you control can never exceed your ranks in Knowledge (Forbidden) .

Darkfriend (Supreme)

• Tier: 5
• Activation: Active (Maneuver)
• Ranked: No
• Your character must have purchased the Darkfriend (Improved) talent to benefit from this talent. Your status has been raised to the highest level a Darkfriend can achieve. You will be called upon frequently to further the goals of the Shadow and may find your services required by the Forsaken. Because of your status, once per session, you may flip a Story Point to call upon one minion group of 3 Trollocs. You must make a Hard Coercion check every time you issue a command to see if they obey your orders.

DREAM WALKER

• Tier : 4
• Activation : Active (Action)
• Ranked : No
• You cannot take this talent if you have purchased the Goldeneyes talent. You have learned how to enter into the World of Dreams. Once per session while asleep, you may flip a Story Point to step into Telaranrhiod. While there, you may explore your current surroundings or make an Average Discipline check and travel to one location of your choice in the Westlands. See the Section on Telaranrhiod on page… for more information about how this world works.

FOLLOW YOUR NOSE

• Tier : 3
• Activation : Passive
• Ranked : No
• You have the very rare gift of being able to smell violence. Violent people leave a very specific stench that you can sniff out. When they commit acts of violence and they leave the scene, you have the ability to follow their stench for up to three days. Upgrade your Perception check one time when tracking a target who has committed an act of violence, to determine which direction the target has traveled. The closer you get to the target, the stronger the stench.

GOLDENEYES

• Tier : 3
• Activation : Active (Action)
• Ranked : No
• You cannot take this talent if you have purchased the Dream Walker talent. You learn that you have been born with the rare ability to communicate with wolves. Once per session, you may flip a Story Point to communicate with the nearest wolf pack and learn a piece of information they may know about the surrounding area and events taking place. You may ask them any question but keep in mind that wolves try to avoid two-legs as much as possible and may not always know all the details you are looking for.

GOLDENEYES (IMPROVED)

• Tier : 4
• Activation : Active (Action)
• Ranked : No
• You must first have purchased the Goldeneyes (Improved) talent. As your communication with wolves improves, your eyes are being transformed into the likeness of a wolf. Your eyes change color to a golden-yellow and you are able to see in the dark. Remove 2 Setback dice when making Perception checks at night and add 2 Boost dice when making Perception checks during the day. Keep in mind that there are many who will look at you differently because of your new eyes, be fearful of you, or consider you a Darkfriend.. These new eyes may help or hurt your social checks depending on who you are talking to. The choice is up to your GM.

GOLDENEYES (SUPREME)

• Tier : 5
• Activation : Active (Action)
• Ranked : No
• You must first have purchased the Goldeneyes (Improved) talent. Your ability to communicate with wolves has deepened and you learn how to enter into the Wolf Dream. Once per session while asleep, when you flip a Story Point using the Goldeneyes talent, you may choose to enter into the Wolf Dream instead of communicating with the nearest wolf pack. In the Wolf Dream you may explore your current surroundings or make an Average Discipline check and travel to one location of your choice in the Westlands. For more information on the Wolf Dream, see the Section on Telaranrhiod on page… for more information about how this world works.

HOLDING ON

• Tier : 3
• Activation : Passive
• Ranked : No
• You have learned how to ignore distractions while Embracing the Source. Make an Average Discipline check to continue to Embrace the Source when you take damage instead of a Hard check.

LET IT GO

• Tier : 4
• Activation : Passive
• Ranked : No
• You have become disciplined in your use of the One Power. You can let go of the Source as an Incidental and no longer need to make a Discipline check to let it go.

PIONEER

• Tier : 1
• Activation : Passive
• Ranked : Yes
• After your character makes a Perception , Vigilance , or Knowledge (Adventuring) check to notice, identify, or avoid a threat in in the wild (a location away from farms, villages, towns, or cities), your character cancels a number of uncanceled h no greater than your character's ranks in Pioneer.

SKILLED EMBRACE

• Tier : 3
• Activation : Passive
• Ranked : No
• You have grown accustom to the nature of the Source and its ebbs and flows allowing to embrace the Source more quickly. Embracing the Source is now a Maneuver instead of an Action

SKILLED EMBRACE (IMPROVED)

• Tier : 5
• Activation : Passive
• Ranked : No
• You must have already purchased the Skilled Embrace talent. The Source has become like a close friend. You are very familiar with its peculiarities. Embracing the Source is now an Incidental instead of a Maneuver.

THE SOURCE IS MY ALLY

• Tier: 3
• Activation : Passive
• Ranked : No
• After much training and dedication, you are more disciplined when it comes to embracing the Source. Decrease the difficulty by one when performing the Embracing the Source action.

WILDER

• Tier: 2
• Activation: Passive
• Ranked: No
• To your surprise, maybe even your chagrin, you realize that you have the ability to Channel. The Channeling skill is now considered a career skill for you. However, because you have received no training, your ability to touch the One Power is not as efficient as an Aes Sedai or others. As with almost all Wilders, you have a mental block that prohibits you from Embracing the Source except under certain circumstances. Your Block could be that you can only Channel when you are angry or you can only Channel with your eyes closed. Regardless of the circumstance (and you are strongly encouraged to pick the circumstance), increase the difficulty of all Embrace the Source actions by one.

WILDER (IMPROVED)

• Tier: 5
• Activation: Passive
• Ranked: No
• Your character must have purchased the Wilder talent to benefit from this talent. With much study, practice, and headaches you have learned how to overcome your Block. You no longer increase the difficulty of Embrace the Source actions.

@WolfRider I'm just now seeing your post for some reason and I didn't see it early.

On 6/2/2018 at 6:02 PM, WolfRider said:

I don't think making a discipline chek for both embracing and letting go Saidar / Saidin is good. In WoT everything related to magic is very gender specific. Women embrace the Source while men bind it to their will. When you read what women channellers say about embracing saidar (or is it saidin for women ?) it is letting it flow through them and cooperate to weave waves. While for men it is a struggle to dominate saidin (or is it saidar for men ?) and force it to weave waves. I'd prefer a check based on Presence, since it's the social characteristic, for women when they embrace the source. And for men a check based on willpower when they embrace the source. But a discipline check for women to let go the Source seems ok with what is said about the addictiveness of it. On the other hand it seems the exact opposite for men who are relieved to let go the Source. That's what we ear Rands and other male channellers say before the cleansing of the Taint. I don't remember if it change after it. But given how Jordan opposes genders in everything I've strong doubt about it. I could even imagine the characteristic used by women to embrace the Source is the characteristic used by men to let go the Source, and the characteristic used by men to bind the Source is the characteristic used by women to let go the Source.

Thank you for bringing this up! The differences in how they embrace the Source was something that I had thought about and keep circling back to. As you mentioned, for women they call it "Embracing" Saidar and for men it is called "Seizing" Saidin (I still get the two confused and have to look it up). I do like your thought of making it two different checks for men and women PCs as that does follow the flavor of the setting very well. I did just choose Discipline for both as my thought was one, to try to keep it simple and two, Discipline seemed to fit in that it was a matter of discipline to control the One Power, albeit two different ways about doing it. I don't think it would complicate anything to have male PCs roll one check and female PCs roll a different check.

With that said, I would agree with men needing to make a Willpower type of check so Discipline would fit that. But help me understand why you would have female channelers make a Presence based check? The reason I ask is that as you mentioned, they have to almost submit to Saidar or else the river will sweep them away. That feels like a Discipline check especially when I think of Egwene first trying to Embrace the Source and really struggling to do so. I am definitely open to being persuaded to consider something different so I welcome your thoughts and feedback on this.

Whilst I completely agree the two halves of the source are very different they still use remarkably similar techniques to achieve their embrace/seize; the unfolding flower vs the candle flame. Cool would be a possibility for women, I think I need to do some wiki diving

It was my first post on the forum so it needed to be approved before being published. And moderators doing approbation take their week-end too. ?

I agree Presence wasn't a good idea. I hesitated with Cunning, but only because I wanted a different characteristic than Willpower for one of the check. Using the same check for accessing the Saidar or the Saidin, for using it to weave waves and for releasing it, erase any differences between Saidar and Saidin. But it makes the rule simpler.

And I forgot about Cool. You can have Women use Cool to embrace Saidar and Disciple too let it go . And men use Discipline to seize Saidin and Cool to let it go. I don't think it's really more complicated than having one discipline check for all.

I insist because for me the opposition between men and women is the deliberate choice by Jordan for the way magic works in his world. It must be as important in a RPG about WoT than it is in the books. But I don't try to impose my view of the WoT series, in the end you'll do as you wish.

4 hours ago, WolfRider said:

I insist because for me the opposition between men and women is the deliberate choice by Jordan for the way magic works in his world. It must be as important in a RPG about WoT than it is in the books. But I don't try to impose my view of the WoT series, in the end you'll do as you wish.

@WolfRider This is why I started this thread. On my own, rules wise coupled with setting flavor/accuracy, this would be OK at best. But having more people to bounce ideas off of and listen to will help make this setting even better. So I welcome any feedback, pushback, and alternative views and I am willing to be persuaded.

I do like the idea of Cool for women and Discipline for men. That does give a nice difference for the two halves. Which means I will need to rework the skills for the Careers.

4 hours ago, WolfRider said:

You can have Women use Cool to embrace Saidar and Disciple too let it go . And men use Discipline to seize Saidin and Cool to let it go. I don't think it's really more complicated than having one discipline check for all.

I do see what you are suggesting here and I am going to have to ponder this idea a little more...

Here's what I have so far for the Careers and their Skills:

Aes Sedai - Channeling, Charm, Cool, Discipline, Knowledge (One Power), Leadership, Perception, and Vigilance.

Asha'man - Athletics, Channeling, Coercion, Discipline, Knowledge (One Power), Melee (Heavy), Melee (Light), and Vigilance.

Damanae - Channeling, Cool, Deception, Discipline, Knowledge (One Power), Survival, and Vigilance.

• I know I am missing one, but I had a hard time trying think how to steer the direction for the Damanae
• My thought was the Damanae Career is that of an escaped Damanae and she is doing everything she can to keep from going back to the Seanchan.

Gleeman - Charm , Coordination , Deception , Knowledge (Geography) , Melee (Light) , Negotiation, Perception , and Vigilance .

Hunter of the Horn - Knowledge (Adventuring) , Knowledge (Geography) , Perception , Ranged or Melee (Light) , Riding , Stealth , Survival , and Vigilance .

• I thought I would let the PC choose between Ranged or Melee (Light) instead of making the Hunter career only one direction.

Kin's Woman - Channeling, Cool, Discipline, Leadership, Medicine, Negotiation, Perception, and Streetwise .

Sage - Alchemy , Discipline, Knowledge (Forbidden) , Knowledge (Geography) , Knowledge (Lore) , Mechanics , Medicine, and Perception .

• The Sage would be your village Wisdom, an Aiel Wise One who can't channel, or an old hermit like Elyas (sp?)

Scholar - Alchemy , Discipline, Knowledge (Forbidden) , Knowledge (Geography) , Knowledge (Lore) , Mechanics , Medicine, and Perception .

Scoundrel - Charm , Cool , Coordination , Deception , Ranged , Skulduggery , Stealth , and Streetwise .

• I thought about giving the option for Ranged or Melee (Light) like the Hunter of the Horn but I just basically copied this career from RoT.

Soldier, Windfinder, and Wise One

• I haven't gotten to these Careers yet so their skills aren't even built yet, but the Soldier I figured would follow the standard GCR Soldier.
• The Wise One is of the Channeling variety.

Damane need Coercion, I always thought those ladies where scary when they get off the leash, otherwise Stealth could be an option as they are forced into hiding so much.

Aes Sedai could definitely be a career with six skills and your choice of ajah determines the other two skills.

Warder has potential to be a career (although Warder Training could be a talent I guess) , so does Noble and perhaps Scout, Hunter of the Horn should be a Talent that grants new career skills since they were supposed to have come from all sorts of backgrounds.

Will there be an Aes Sedai-only talent called "Braid Pulling"? I didn't see it in a quick glance, but I might have missed it. Having read through the books not too long ago, I remember very often that one of the defining actions of an Aes Sedai is that when exasperated she pulls on her hair braid.

Oops. I failed to copy the Noble Career over.

• Noble - Charm, Coercion, Cool, Discipline, Leadership, Melee (Light), Negotiation, and Perception.

Damane Updated - Channeling, Coercion, Cool, Deception, Discipline, Knowledge (One Power), Stealth or Survival, and Vigilance.

Aes Sedai Update - Channeling, Cool, Discipline, Knowledge (One Power), Perception, and Vigilance.

Ajah Skills

• Blue Ajah - Negotiation and Streetwise
• Brown Ajah - Knowledge (Lore) and Knowledge (Geography)
• Gray Ajah - Leadership and Negotiation
• Green Ajah - Leadership and ...
• Red Ajah - Streetwise? and ...
• White Ajah -
• Yellow Ajah - Medicine and Alchemy

Not sure what skill to add to the Green Ajah to finish it off and not quite sure what to add to Red or White.