13th Age

13th Age is a system I've been reading quite a bit of lately. It's OGL and designed by two guys who helped design for 3rd and 4th edition. While I haven't played it, the game looks like a 4e lite, with no need for a grid. There is some old-school/2e vibe and modernish story-telling bits. I will probably be using some of the subsystems such as icons, one unique thing, and the escalation die.

They recently came out with an SRD...

http://www.pelgranepress.com/?p=13316

Is this going to be a supplement for Radiance?

interesting, so if I am reading it right....

ICONS - major NPCs with their own backstory.  Relationship dice, scores

cool, it kinda reminds me of something from Vampire, like Influence\status\mentor points.

ESCALATION DICE - Escalation Die
The escalation die represents a bonus to attacks as the fight goes on.
At the start of the second round, the GM sets th
e escalation die at 1. Each PC gains a bonus to
attack rolls equal to the current value on the es
calation die. Each round, the escalation die
advances by +1, to a maximum of +6.
Monsters and NPCs do not add the escalation die bonus to their attacks
If the GM judges that the characters are avoiding
conflict rather than bringing the fight to the
bad guys, the escalation die doesn't advance. If
combat virtually ceases, the escalation die
resets to 0.

just a bonus for the PCs?  ok, could make things interesting.


One Unique Thing - One Unique Thing
Your character’s One Unique Thing (their unique) is a special feature invented by you, the
player, which sets your character apart from every other hero. It is a unique and special trait
to your player, and markedly unusual. The intent is that it provides a special flavor to the
campaign and can assist the GM in determining how your character can interact with
characters and story in the campaign.
Your character’s unique should not provide general practical value in combat. That is not the
intent. The intent is to open up story arcs and fun roleplaying opportunities.

hmmm... not sure how to read this one.  It seems like we already do this, maybe it is a rule aimed at new RPG'ers?  Or am I missing something.....

Josh- yes, a supplement to Radiance. While the two systems have similarities, the power curve is quite different and they're not really compatible. 13th Age only goes to 10th level, for instance. Some of the powers are pretty cool and could be converted over. But Radiance has more class options and a robust skill system.

Chris- I also thought Icons were similar to White Wolf. The relationship dice can really alter the mood of the adventure. I think it is really interesting.

I will be reworking the icons more for what I envision Primal Planet campaign to be about. There will be no High Priestess, for instance. The icons will figure into the behind-the-scenes immortals.

Escalation die will be added once your characters have successfully won an encounter and worked together as a team.

so.. we can make a character according to Radiance or this 13th world thing? (I'm just confused, lol.. probably my fault)

whit10 wrote:so.. we can make a character according to Radiance or this 13th world thing? (I'm just confused, lol.. probably my fault)

I thought you already made a character- a half-orc shifter. Now I'm confused!

lol... I had no intention of making a second. I was just wondering how that new stuff fit in. I won't really worry about it

so a "unique" might be something like..... saying my Grippli has color changing skin, kind of like a mood-ring chameleon? no real bonus to anything, but he turns a dark red when he gets mad, blue when he is sad, bright yellow\orange when happy.

It would be controllable, so it doesn't affect his social skills, but just for fun.

Is that kind of what you are thinking with "unique"s ?

whit10 wrote:lol... I had no intention of making a second.  I was just wondering how that new stuff fit in.  I won't really worry about it

Sure, maybe eventually I'd enjoy running 13th age straight as written. But the core is pretty-much medieval-style fantasy. Not really what this particular campaign is about. But I like some of the rules, which we can "bolt-on" to the Radicance system. It's all OGL and not too difficult to convert.

A supplement for 13th age will be coming out with 6 more classes and options... Including stuff like the druid (which IMHO should have been in core), a warlord-type, and a chaos shaman, which sounds intriguing.

However, at baseline, Radiance has more class and race and theme options. It's modular so that I can turn stuff on or off (steamtech, electrotech, divine) without too much trouble.

And that system too will be getting a supplement in the next year. New classes and stuff that looks to really amp up the tech/sci-fi elements.

Which would be cool for when we get back to weird west... I'd like to introduce more electrotech and sci-fi with that campaign. It's already there, but your heroes were only beginning to discover it.

Chris wrote:so a "unique" might be something like.....  saying my Grippli has color changing skin, kind of like a mood-ring chameleon?  no real bonus to anything, but he turns a dark red when he gets mad, blue when he is sad, bright yellow\orange when happy.

It would be controllable, so it doesn't affect his social skills, but just for fun.

Is that kind of what you are thinking with "unique"s ?

That's not bad. It would be fun for the social aspect of his skin changing color, but I can see a mechanical benefit (camouflage) too.

OUT works best when it connects with the icons or drips with story hooks. Stuff in which to hang a campaign on.

Some examples from the book:
"I am the bastard son of the Emperor"
"I am the oldest elf in the world"
"I cut off my own arm to show how tough I am"
"I am a dwarf who was born covered in scales from the egg of a dragon"
"I am a former cultist"
"I am the reincarnation of an ancient icon. I don't know which one yet."
"I am the three-time winner of the dwarven drinking championships"
"I am the the incarnation of a hero who lived ages ago, and I'm sure that Destiny has brought me back for a reason"
"I see dead people"
"The stars sing to me. Sometimes they tell me things, and sometimes those things are true"
"I am the only halfling knight of the Dragon Emperor"
"I am the only acrobat who performed their way out of the Diabolist's Circus of Hell"
"I am the only human child of a zombie mother"
"I have a clockwork heart made by the dwarves"

Unless I'm wrong about copyright laws... the dude that wrote Radiance better be careful. There's a Kindred Townie that I saw last night and I'm pretty sure White Wolf copyrighted that.

Rob - ok, I see where that is going with the OUT. But it sure seems several of those OUTs would indeed have statistical bonuses or penalties, which seems to contradict the other OUT notes.

for instance.....
"oldest elf in the world" Radiance has specific age bonuses\penalties
"I see dead people" Free spirit sight?
"reincarnated icon" if not immediate, later powers?

I am just looking for clarification as to whether the OUTs have a direct benefit or not. I can see most as just story hooks.

Tag - so Im on-thread

Chris wrote:Rob - ok, I see where that is going with the OUT.  But it sure seems several of those OUTs would indeed have statistical bonuses or penalties, which seems to contradict the other OUT notes.

for instance.....
"oldest elf in the world"   Radiance has specific age bonuses\penalties
"I see dead people"        Free spirit sight?
"reincarnated icon"         if not immediate, later powers?

I am just looking for clarification as to whether the OUTs have a direct benefit or not.  I can see most as just story hooks.

OUT is supposed to be for flavor and fun. They're just examples. If someone wants their character to be the oldest of their race, then they can do so, without penalties, obviously. And there would need to be story to back it up... For example, Fred the dwarf discovered a fountain of youth many years ago. He took a canteen full of the nectar with him and has been sipping from it, lo these many years. That's just one example.

Seeing dead folk isn't necessarily a benefit either. And somethings wouldn't be right away. Like the legendary origin thing. That could manifest later as the character develops.

Just thought it would be fun to try it out.