Wheel of Time

[Ms Gavane]

I am very interested to see where this goes. I'm a WoT geek in many ways. Gavane is a word in the Old Tongue. It's where I got my start and I carry the name to reflect that. That being said, I'm a little prickly about story stuff. I also understand that any RPs here are not the books and are free to be modified by the group in any way it chooses.

Given that questions have been brought up from the series, i would like to address a few quick points.

1. Women in the story frequently complained that men were stronger in the Power than they were.  This wad not universally true, however the average man is stronger in the Power than the average woman. Women we only stronger, again on average, in Spirit and maybe air. This contrast is part of RJ's constant man vs. woman obsession.

2. When make channelers go crazy from the taint they tend to either wither away quickly or go out with a bang. Some examples from the series include destroying entire towns overnight.

3. Channeling is dangerous to learn alone or too quickly. The Black Tower suffered a large number of casualties because of the speed at which they pushed the recruits. Some went crazy and died, some were burnt out, and others were affected by the taint at an increased rate. The poisoning that was mentioned was considered a kinder way of dealing with these recruits than gentling.


I love that there is active interest in the series here and I would really enjoy playing along. However, I would really love to play in a taint-free world where men are not considered dangerous for being able to channel. I think this fits with the rest of the group's wishes given what I've read. I also think that it would be much easier to keep things in line with the series, but moldable (real word?) to the group's liking if we just make the setting x years after the series and make up or own rules for the stuff we want to change. Also, No worries about canon characters.

I would like to get in on things no matter what, so please feel free to disregard any of my suggestions.  They are just my thoughts, not requirements for me to play.

:Edited Govan to Gavane so that it would actually make sense that my name comes from the WoT series.:

[Mossberg]

1. Women in the story frequently complained that men were stronger in the Power than they were.  This wad not universally true, however the average man is stronger in the Power than the average woman. Women we only stronger, again on average, in Spirit and maybe air. This contrast is part of RJ's constant man vs. woman obsession.

2. When make channelers go crazy from the taint they tend to either wither away quickly or go out with a bang. Some examples from the series include destroying entire towns overnight.

3. Channeling is dangerous to learn alone or too quickly. The Black Tower suffered a large number of casualties because of the speed at which they pushed the recruits. Some went crazy and died, some were burnt out, and others were affected by the taint at an increased rate. The poisoning that was mentioned was considered a kinder way of dealing with these recruits than gentling.


I love that there is active interest in the series here and I would really enjoy playing along. However, I would really love to play in a taint-free world where men are not considered dangerous for being able to channel. I think this fits with the rest of the group's wishes given what I've read. I also think that it would be much easier to keep things in line with the series, but moldable (real word?) to the group's liking if we just make the setting x years after the series and make up or own rules for the stuff we want to change. Also, No worries about canon characters.

I'm glad that you have shown interest in this. Unfortunately, I do not have an idea yet of when it will be up and running, but it is still advancing. There are a couple things I would like to address about what you said.

1. You are right about the average strength. I don't remember where, but I read a good comparison somewhere before. Like with muscles on people in real life, men are usually stronger than women. There are women that are stronger than men, but these individuals are pretty rare. This refers to natural strength, not that of weightlifters or anything like that. As for the elemental strengths you are mistaken. It has said repeatedly in the books that men were stronger in Fire and Earth, women stronger in Air and Water, with both of them being about equal with Spirit. Like the overall strength, there are exceptions, but not often.

2. That is somewhat up for debate I'd say, especially in a roleplay group. I believe that like sicknesses and diseases it affects each person at a different rate. Here is a section from a wiki page about the Taint:

"A slow degradation of body and mind, the taint sets in some time after a man starts channeling. Those affected go mad and slowly rot away from the inside, often destroying their surroundings and loved ones in the process. Interestingly, this physical rotting and madness are not dissimilar from the effects of the True Power on Ishamael, its only known long-time user. This has led the remaining female Aes Sedai to hunt down and gentle all men who can channel, to prevent a second Breaking of the World.

In addition, some Aes Sedai and at least one of the Forsaken (Semirhage) believe that men will hear voices as they go mad, although it is still debated whether these are "actual" voices from past lives, or just symptoms of the madness' progression."

And as for the "Taint free" world, I'm not sure what you mean. Like there never was a Taint, or that it has been cleansed? And I don't remember who said it right now, but someone pointed out that if we set it after the series then most of the shadowspawn and all that would be gone and there wouldn't be anyone to really fight except ourselves, not to mention that the politics would be changed as well as possible nations and all that. For the making up our own rules and no canons that is why we are using a Portal Stone World. Kind of the same as in the series, but we have complete freedom to make original content and characters.

[Ms Gavane]

Yes, you are right about the distribution of the five powers. I was not sure on those and should have just stopped and looked it up.

My statement about the Taint (I totally think of something different when I say that word.) was ambiguous. I should have clarified that when the Taint becomes an issue it either kills with a nasty withering disease or the poison goes insane and often violently so. It is also noteworthy that the effects and speed at which the Taint progresses is often directly proportional to the channel e's strength in the Power. Rand's Taint progressed at a very quick rate, for example. He was seeing the effects within a year and certifiably 'insane' within two. I'll also note, since it was brought up earlier, that at one point one of the forsaken, I believe it was Semirhage explains to Rand that his insanity is just the opening up of his mind to his previous incarnations. Of course his previous incarnation was actually insane.

[Mossberg]

There are quite a few different things that can happen as a result of the Taint. Near the end of the series for example (I wont give any real details or say names) there was the one guy that saw Fades in shadows and all that. Some hear voices. Really, I think the mental parts can be just like real insanity and take many forms. Hallucinations, schizophrenia, and all sorts of things. And you are right about the strength vs. progression of the Taint I believe. Though we can't always use Rand as an example, as he was Ta'veren and the Pattern could have given him access to things normal channelers wouldn't have, Taint or no. Like he could have went insane just to have access to Lews Therin's memories and such so that he would know better what to do and how to do it. I wish they had given more point of view sections to other channelers, like Logain, Narishma, or nearly anyone else really. The only time I really remember things from an Asha'man's p.o.v. was near the end of the series, if not the last book itself.

[Melange]

I'm also interested in this idea, and will be watching this thread. WoT is not without its flaws, as others have noted, but it's still one of my favorite series. I love the vast breadth of the world, and the thought and imagination that went into creating the many peoples, customs, places, and factions.

I've considered trying my hand at GM'ing a WoT game, but it's pretty intimidating to consider. Since starting out smaller is probably a good idea, I may be interested in being a co-GM. Would you be able to elaborate more on what you're looking for in a co-GM? And what their duties would be?

[Mossberg]

I appreciate your interest and I mean no offense at all when I say this, but why would I choose you to be my Co-GM? I know nothing of you or your ability to write, let alone your knowledge of the series. When I made the offer of a Co-GM in this thread, it was for those that have been here trying to help me with it already. If it's not going to be one of them then I was going to try getting an experienced GM to help me with some things.

Sorry if that came off rude or anything, I do not mean for it to sound that way.

[Melange]

I saw mention of a co-GM in the thread, and it sounded like you were asking in general. I thought I would bring it up as a possibility, and that we might discuss it and see if it could be a thing. It looks like that's out, and I'm sorry if I assumed incorrectly!

[Mossberg]

Okay, I've got a question for you guys. Since nobody has brought up anymore ideas or locations, then I'm guessing that there aren't any that you feel I should add? If not then I will move on to the organizations and such. So far I was thinking the Aes Sedai (of course) and Whitecloaks. I don't see any others being needed immediately.

[Cold Heritage]

If there are Asha'man in this game, maybe a brief write up on them. I forget what we decided about them.

[Mossberg]

If I remember correctly, we decided that they would pretty much be novice channelers under the tutelage of a False Dragon. So as of now, there is no actual Black Tower or Asha'man. They are going to be based in an abandoned village in the Caralain Grass as long as nobody has any objections to that.