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Author Topic: the one power in D&D
siyane
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posted July 24, 2002 05:59 PM      Profile for siyane   Email siyane    Edit/Delete Post
my d&d sessions are centering right now on other worlds gaining access to our specific campaign setting through a weird nexus of sorts (read stephen king's the dark tower, anyone?). one such door threw moiraine through the ter'angreal (when she pushed lanfear) into our campaign world. the question is, how does the one power fare against the normal magic system of the typical d&d world? i mean, does spell resistance work against the one power, would shield prevent a divine spellcaster from accessing his spells, etc. i know that there are no fixed rules here, and we gms are indeed encouraged to improvise, but i just wanted to hear what other people think about this. [Razz]
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GhostTigone
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posted July 24, 2002 06:34 PM      Profile for GhostTigone      Edit/Delete Post
A pet theory of mine is that basically for D&D/WoT crossovers is that the OP is basically arcane magic with the 'safety' off...

an example: in FR you've the over all weave(which for theory's sake let us just say is made up of strands of Saidin and Saidar) the weave prevents helps prevent you from burning yourself out and other such things...

a channeler somehow transported over there would be the same but would lose any and all ability to overchannel, and could theortically teach the weaves as spells

a wizard transported over to randland would cast much the same way, but would be in danger of overchanneling as they are unused to there being no 'safety' to prevent them from doing so...(exact mechanics up to particular DM)

a sorc I've yet to quite figure out...

[ July 24, 2002, 06:47 PM: Message edited by: GhostTigone ]

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'Life is Chaos, Chaos is Life, Control is an Illusion'

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Dark Ashaman
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posted July 24, 2002 07:30 PM      Profile for Dark Ashaman      Edit/Delete Post
I disagree. In such circumstances that would make things boring. I mean there should be a DIFFERENCE in the two styles even if they are in the same world. Imagine Moiraine talking to a wise Wizard and explaining how the One Power works. And then the Wizard marvels at how she can overchannel and cast weaves almost all day long. (Considering they are 0 or 1 level).

And I don't think that she would be able to Shield anybody from doing anything. Cause Shield shields someone from the One Power, its not made to do anything else. Spell resistance shouldn't work cause they aren't spells. They are weaves. Two totally different words and two totally different things.

Sorry Ghosttigone but I don't think that things should just automatically mold to fit the world. That would take away anything interesting about the whole scenerio and ultimately defeat the purpose of it. Moiraine would be just another spell caster. Which would be pointless.

DA

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Suravye Ninto Manshima Taishite

From: Kentucky | Registered: Apr 2002  |  IP: Logged
Rand alThor
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posted July 24, 2002 11:15 PM      Profile for Rand alThor   Email Rand alThor    Edit/Delete Post
I always viewed the OP as being the equivelent of psionic ability. I have never read of the Aes Sedai needing components or vocabulation. Just my two cents. Take it for what it is worth. [Red Mana]

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-Rand al'Thor, The Car'a'carn, The Coramoor, He Who Comes With the Dawn, The Lord of the Morning, Shadowkiller(not to be confused with the awesome dude that has the same screen name), The Dragon Reborn. (Also Proud Gleeman of Dragonmount.com)

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The Great Gray Skwid
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posted July 25, 2002 08:03 AM      Profile for The Great Gray Skwid   Email The Great Gray Skwid    Edit/Delete Post
I agree with Dark Ashaman, except I would let items with Spell Resistance use their Spell Resistance against weaves. After all, WoT has Weave Resistance, doesn't it? [Dubious]

Doesn't it? [Roll Eyes] [Razz]

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Evan "Skwid" Langlinais
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http://www.thehumblest.net/
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From: The Big D | Registered: Jul 2001  |  IP: Logged
GhostTigone
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posted July 25, 2002 01:31 PM      Profile for GhostTigone      Edit/Delete Post
actually there would still be quite a few differences, being able to "weave" a spell without components, not havint to memorize but not being limited as if a sorc.

the only thing they would "lose" is the ability to overchannel because of the 'safeguards' on the world's magic that help prevent the wizards and sorcs from using to much energy and burning themselves out...

a wizard and channeler would still have quite a few things to learn from eachother and experiment on, including shielding which would work on arcane casters.

also remember that the One Power is an external source of magical energy... a wizard or channeler transported to athas would still cast the way they 'learned' but would still have to defile or preserve to gather the energy...

different worlds, different ways arcane magic work

ps&imho:

arcane: spells gained from an outside/universal energy (the One Power in WoT, weave in FR, life in DS)

clerical: spells gained from "faith" or granted from some higher being

druidic: spells gained from "nature" or also granted by some higher being

psionics: 'spells' gained from mysticism/internal energy

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'Life is Chaos, Chaos is Life, Control is an Illusion'

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Dark Ashaman
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posted July 26, 2002 11:51 PM      Profile for Dark Ashaman      Edit/Delete Post
GRRRRRR!!!!!

WEAVES AND SPELLS ARE AS DIFFERENT AS APPLES AND ORANGES!!!!

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Suravye Ninto Manshima Taishite

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Grayswandir_Blade
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posted July 27, 2002 01:10 AM      Profile for Grayswandir_Blade   Email Grayswandir_Blade    Edit/Delete Post
An old DM of mine was running a scenario based off of Roger Zelazny's Chronicles of Amber, in which all worlds except true order and true chaos are shades of grey (aka "shadows") in a spectrum between them. Randland is one, as is FR, Earth, etc. This was far before d20, but the basic mechanic he came up with is that each locale blends into the next, and though the local spellcasters are aligned to one method of casting, each local source can be accessed from nearby shadows to a weaker degree the further from that shadow the caster gets. That though all the sources are similar, they get increasingly alien and harder to control in different environments. In essence, a parallel matrix runs alongside the real worlds, holding all the magical energies of each world as a fluctuating quilt of different powers, some overlapping and some reappearing in different worlds. Assuming FR and Randland were nearby shadows, a channeler in FR could cast weaves at, say, a one- or two-level penalty (effective casting level is a few levels lower). The further from Randland the channeler gets through shadow-shifting, the more distant and harder to cast the OP gets. Vice versa for D&D magic. This system actually works very well in interplanar games, since plot twists come in when the party needs to go to some distant plane where the magical energies might not work right... =) Also, fluctuations in the interplanar matrix can produce unpredictable effects, like turning all your fireballs into sonicballs. $0.02

Grays

[ July 27, 2002, 01:13 AM: Message edited by: Grayswandir_Blade ]

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"We laugh in the face of danger, just before it hits us and knocks us out" - Lysander.
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sfgiantsfanmike
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posted July 27, 2002 10:21 AM      Profile for sfgiantsfanmike   Email sfgiantsfanmike    Edit/Delete Post
Since the DM is mixing the two worlds, here's a theory:

Since the source runs the wheel of time, it is through out space/time. Therefore present everywhere.

How this effects arcane spell caster's? One of two ways. Either they use the source as a channler, but since they believe they are casting a certain amount of spells a day (and once they get near the end feel fatigue..those knowing they're out) and believe that they need components... they basicly have a special block, which prevents them from overchannling as well as requiring componets.

Or, since arcane spells change "reality" around them... they can use the source, but in an outward manner. This would mean they use the source, but don't channel it through themselves.. thus giving them a limit per day they can use, and as they grow more powerful, they can use more per day.

My favorite way of doing this (I've thought about it), is to say wizards do it the first way (channel it through them, but have a block), and sorcerers can use the source outside themselves..but can lear to channel it through themselves.

Just a thought

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What was once, will be again...

So where's the rewind button???

From: sactamento, ca | Registered: Jun 2002  |  IP: Logged
Grayswandir_Blade
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posted July 28, 2002 12:42 AM      Profile for Grayswandir_Blade   Email Grayswandir_Blade    Edit/Delete Post
The problem I have with that logic is that if wizards have a "special block," where did it come from? The first time the very first wizard started using the OP in FR, they surely didn't use components...or at least, out of the entire history of FR, *someone* had to have thought of just channeling it. Perhaps, with that setup, the locals of a certain plane are genetically tuned to different methods of use. Close to what I mentioned, but slightly different because the OP is universal, just the individuals that channel it are taught different ways of using it.

Grays

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"We laugh in the face of danger, just before it hits us and knocks us out" - Lysander.
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Maidenfine
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posted July 28, 2002 04:13 PM      Profile for Maidenfine      Edit/Delete Post
If you wanted to use wizards and sorcerers as channelers with a special block I think it would work. It's like when Nyneave saved Egwene in EoW. She didn't know she could channel at all. She used herbs and potions to "heal" Egwene. It would be kind of the same thing. Maybe wizards and sorcerors don't actually know where the magic comes from and over the years, it has been attributed to the components and the words. Basically it would just be a matter of being in the right frame of mind, which is exactly what a block is.

Of course, I would actually run magic and the One Power as two seperate entities just like I run psionics as a seperate entity but if you wanted to do it that way I think it would make perfect sense.

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theSaj
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posted July 30, 2002 10:51 AM      Profile for theSaj   Email theSaj    Edit/Delete Post
My thoughts...

Would the One Power be available in a D&D world...
"Yes...my reason for this answer stems from a comment made early in the series, the Dark One is bound on all worlds, and if loosed in one world he is loosed in all."
If the DarkOne is present I imagine Saidin, Saidar, the True Source, etc. is present.

I would see D&D items giving "Spell Resistence" resisting "Weaves" as they are in many ways a similar meta-energy effect.

As for the One Power in relation to a world. I'd suggest the following. The DM could roll a dice and determine the closeness of the One Power. In otherwords, on one world the One Power may be seemingly distant requiring a high Difficulty Rating to reach it. On another world it may be very close, it may in fact, be so close that it's almost overwhelming and only 5 is needed to touch the source.

It may also be that the One Power appears more powerful or weaker in this new world. The madness/taint may be stronger or it maybe be lesser...

These would be my suggestions of where and how to bend...WoT 2 D&D

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"To Die is to Live No More!"

From: New Haven, Connecticut | Registered: Jul 2002  |  IP: Logged
zer0wolf
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posted July 31, 2002 01:53 PM      Profile for zer0wolf   Email zer0wolf    Edit/Delete Post
quote:
GRRRRRR!!!!!

WEAVES AND SPELLS ARE AS DIFFERENT AS APPLES AND ORANGES!!!!

Haven't read D&D's Epic Level handbook, have ya? [Wink]

I'm actually going to be running a crossover for about 50-60 hours of gameplay. A small group of high level Forgotten Realms characters are getting teleported to Randland via the Portal Stones, which is entirely possible considering whats know of the portal stones, and going to face off against the Whitecloaks if they fall into the plotline trap.

The way I see it, both magics draw from what the WoT books call the One Power. Standard D&D and WoT have different ways that magic users access it, but it's still virtually the same.

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running butt nekked
jello covered head to toe
I hope you don't fall ... ;)

From: Lafayette, IN | Registered: Mar 2002  |  IP: Logged


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