Beyond the Deadly Desert Preview: The Wheelers

For everyone who lost sleep over these guys in Return to Oz, I give you a slightly more Ozzy (or Evian?) take on THE WHEELERS!

Wheelers

But she looked at each letter carefully, and finally discovered that these words were written in the sand:

"BEWARE THE WHEELERS!"

"That's rather strange," declared the hen, when Dorothy had read aloudthe words. "What do you suppose the Wheelers are?"

-- Ozma of Oz

The Wheelers try very hard to give themselves a very fierce reputation. They write warnings in the beach sand of their territory. They frighten everyone they meet with fierce yelling. Their clothes are brightly colored and elaborate.

It's all a show. Since the Wheelers have wheels instead of hands and feet, they cannot use weapons or other tools. While they can move swiftly on even ground, their wheels falter on rocky or uneven terrain. They only control a small territory in the land of Ev. Occasionally, they venture into other parts of the country, but their bullying nature makes them unwelcome guests.

[Box-Out]

A Revealing Question About Clothing

The simplest question is perhaps the one that could reveal the most about the Wheelers: How do they get dressed in the morning? Do they have servants or slaves of another race within their territory? Are they dressed by their mothers, who have developed hands or simply improved dexterity in their age? Or are they dressed by magic? Do they have magical clothes that go on by themselves, or a spell that every Wheeler learns to cast?

Their single appearance in the stories give us no answers to this question. Enterprising Narrators could come up with their own answer which could lead to any number of adventures.

[End Box-Out]

Wheeler Characters

The main thing to remember about building a Wheeler is their lack of arms. They should be required to take the No Arms trait. Playing up the bully aspect of a Wheeler would call for a high Presence skill, but low Wits. A Wheeler might choose to take a specialty in “wheeled speed”.

The Wheelers are unlikely to have Soldiers or Sorcerers, or else they would be taken more seriously by their neighbors.

Remember, if you want to see this book completed, please give to the Kickstarter. If I get the full amount, you can get access to Adventures in Oz: Beyond the Deadly Desert before anyone else. If not, you lose absolutely nothing.