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Just chiming in to say thanks for doing this thread! Listening to your game made me buy 13th Age for my home group. Can't wait for that book to get here!
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Jul 31, 2013 06:06
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Update Time! Podcast Episode 23b https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekERy0ETjWc 23-4: RAMP THAT HOLE In this episode - "Is there some way we can supercharge this hellhole?" "Yes there is. Give me the core."
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Jul 31, 2013 15:05
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Aspects of the Age: Icons and Relationship Dice Every game setting has top dogs, big powers that shape the world. They have wide reach and cast a long shadow. The 13th Age takes this assumption and includes a system to make them more dynamic elements of the game and involve the PCs in their schemes. The game proposes 13 Icons that fill in all the expected fantasy archetypes. We use them in our game and I think they've all come up at least once by now. You're also encouraged to add your own, subtract Icons you don't like, or replacing the whole roster like in this article where Kenneth Hite presents Lovecraft Mythos creatures as Icons. Even using the "core" icons you're encouraged to customize and personalize them because they have blank spots in all the right places. Icons are the major sources of power and influence in the world and they shape your setting. They're sort of like gods in some settings, except unlike gods they live in the world and are a part of it within your reach, or even the reach of your sword. It's also important that their power struggles, by default, have them pretty much in a stalemate. A rogue element, like a group of several marauding adventurers, can have huge impacts even if they aren't the most powerful people around (yet). Like the One Unique Thing, assigning Icon relationships invites a measure of backstory before you play. If you have a negative relationship with The Priestess or a complicated relationship with The Diabolist it naturally leads people to ask 'why?'. The same question follows a positive relationship with The Great Gold Wyrm or a negative relationship with The Lich King, but might be in the form of "why so typical?". So that's what they are, but how do they work? Every character starts with three Icon relationship points to distribute however they wish between the roster of Icons. The character's relationship to the Icon can be either positive, negative, or conflicted. These points represent their ties to the Icon and their organization, and also give you dice to roll for your relationship checks. Whenever you roll for a relationship, it's 1d6 for each point with an icon. A 6 is a clear success, and a 5 is a success with complications. Relationships can be rolled for plenty of reasons, with what 'success' means usually depending on why the roll was made. A few sessions down the road the party will make it to Drakkenhall, and the top-of-the-session Icon rolls determined who is involved in the city's schemes. Using them this way to shape the story ensures the parts of the setting the players care about are the ones that pop up a lot. Nobody in our party cares about the Orc Lord, so don't expect to see him come up much. Half of them have Archmage dice, so he'll be making regular appearances. Successes can also bring aid. I pay of 6s with magic items once in a while. Whenever the party is in a tight spot a player can call in a banked success to get out of it. That's also a fun opportunity for a quick flashback scene describing how they arranged it in advance. Rolling dice in the moment is another way you can use them. If you're in need of a place to fence something hot and lie low for a while a roll of your Prince of Shadows dice may be in order. Or if the players have drawn a blank on what to do/where to go an icon roll is always a good place to look for inspiration. Not all successes are created equal. When a 5 comes up things get complicated. The amount of benefit gained should be just as good, but strings will come attached. Typical examples include finding your contact in an allied organization, but an enemy icon knows you did it; being given the magic item you were hoping for, but only after performing a dangerous favor; or calling forth a miracle now at the expense of a tragedy to come. A 5 is an opportunity to make life interesting, and a way for the GM to get in on the Icon fun. The total effect of the system is to bring the Icons forward and make them active. As time goes on they'll develop wide-ranging plans and networks of influence just from rolling dice every once in a while. It keeps the big wheels of the world front and center for everyone to see and be invested in. The ones important to your game will end up with their hands just about everywhere, as is appropriate for people with world-spanning power and influence. The Icon systems are a resource for player empowerment, story creation, improvisation, backstory plot hooks, and setting creation; which is a lot of things to squeeze out of 3d6. Also, we have another birthday in the group today, which lucky for us means another fanart to share:  Bella Canto, by Gigi Digi
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Aug 1, 2013 19:55
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Thanks ironicus for doing these updates on what's going on, they're really helpful and informative. I think I'm going to pick it up to run with a group I'm setting up in November. It looks great and the interactive nature of the players relationships with the game and the GM looks amazing.
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Aug 1, 2013 21:39
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Is there a list somewhere of all of the icons in the default game?
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Aug 2, 2013 13:08
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Ariong posted:Is there a list somewhere of all of the icons in the default game? There is on Pelgrane's site, but they're having server problems at the moment, so I pulled this out of cache: Pelgrane Press posted:The Archmage has preserved the Empire for centuries and created astonishing new lands. He has also threatened the fabric of reality with experiments you’d have to be brilliant or hugely arrogant to attempt.
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Aug 2, 2013 13:27
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UPDATE Time Podcast episode 32c https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qA0-fFcySDw 23-5: Vulture Culture In this video the Rogue Elements continue accelerating the hellhole with reckless abandon, while defending themselves from a scouting party of Vulture Demons. Things seem well in hand until a new challenger approaches. Also a goon league for the 13th Age organized play is being started in TG. If you're interested, take a look at the details here or here.
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Aug 2, 2013 15:45
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So at what point will Mint's attacks just start erasing people from existence.
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Aug 2, 2013 16:33
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I'm only at episode 16, but really enjoying things so far. I absolutely love the system of backgrounds/One Unique Thing, and everyone's doing a great job. Keep it up, everybody!
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Aug 2, 2013 21:41
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I'm wondering if I could get some info in what (if any) changes you guys went through when deciding on your one unique things. Intentions, initial goals, scrapped ideas (and why,) etc. I'm starting up a 13th Age campaign myself shortly and would love some insight on how you came up with your unique things, so I can give myself something to relate to when it comes to the character creation step amongst a bunch of people who have never played it before.
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Aug 3, 2013 00:37
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I just realized... Rogue elements because there are no warriors. Rogues, mages, and bards only.
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Aug 3, 2013 01:03
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Kalsco posted:I'm wondering if I could get some info in what (if any) changes you guys went through when deciding on your one unique things. Intentions, initial goals, scrapped ideas (and why,) etc. I'm starting up a 13th Age campaign myself shortly and would love some insight on how you came up with your unique things, so I can give myself something to relate to when it comes to the character creation step amongst a bunch of people who have never played it before. first off, I wrote my icon relationships with all 13, not just the two I ended up putting points into. it helped me figure out nav's attitude toward the whole world, not just the slice he is directly plugged into. second off, make sure your OUT is character-centric. at first, nav's OUT was being the only undead to leave necropolis, but that really just restates his 2-point relationship to the Lich King and doesn't add any more story hooks. so, his new OUT is being the experimental negative energy creature made of extradimensional matter, which I think you'll agree is far more one-unique-thing-er
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Aug 3, 2013 01:30
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My advice would be to tell the players to be they guy they want to be. Don't look for powers or feats to give it to you, just be it. And don't be coy about it and try to pitch something more mundane than the more out-there idea in your head. If the group knows what's up up front, they and the GM can prepare for it and help you make it even more awesome. Cooperation creates more fun. This is also going to apply when we talk about backgrounds, but that's a few 'Aspects of the Age' posts away.
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Aug 3, 2013 02:38
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PlasmaMan posted:first off, I wrote my icon relationships with all 13 Would you be willing to elaborate, or could it spoil some stuff in the future?
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Aug 3, 2013 02:47
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Aspects of the Age: The Escalation Die Let's jump track by covering something entirely mechanical, without a direct impact on the fiction. The Escalation Die is a bonus on to-hit rolls the PCs get throughout the course of an encounter. The name refers to a d6 placed on the table to use as a tracker. In an average fight, the die begins at 0, and increases by 1 each round until the encounter ends or it reaches the maximum of 6. People have criticized the Escalation Die as a means to fast-forward through fights, which means combat must be pretty unfulfilling, but those people are wrong and let's cover why. Combat in The 13th Age is meant to have a dramatic arc, like fight scenes from any given action movie you can think of. The Escalation Die is what makes that work. Enemies are harder to hit than they "should be", and they deal fairly high damage. In the beginning of the fight things should look hairy for the party, then they get on even terms, and by the end they're unstoppable. The gradual shifting of the probabilities provides that pacing. Players are more likely to save dailies for later on when they're more of a sure thing, so they make for dramatic finishers (i.e. Groat). The die is not automatic, and is only supposed to go up if the party really is trying to escalate the fight. Don't reward them for turtling and holding back for better odds. I like to use it to model surprise: whoever set the ambush gets the die to move one point in their favor to start with. Introducing a new variable in combat also opens up new design space. Dragons are more fearsome than most monsters because they get the escalation bonus too. Some powers key off the die hitting a certain value, while the Wizard's cyclic spells are at-will when it's even but consumed if it's odd. The Escalation Die brings a new variety of tactics and texture to the usual D&D combat.
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Aug 3, 2013 17:23
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Fast-forwarding fights is very, very good; I'm one of those people who found combat to be the least interesting aspect of D&D and other such games, especially with how long some fights take and how scripted they can become. It certainly didn't help when I played as a Fighter and found myself quickly resolving my turn because of how little I could do while casters did all the cool stuff. Combat already felt unfulfilling! Even during the other D&D threads' sessions and this thread's sessions, I always find myself multi-tasking during fights and only paying attention again when something brilliant/so-stupid-it-has-to-work happens. I just don't find most fights interesting; I enjoy world-building and interaction the most.
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Aug 3, 2013 17:48
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I'm glad this LP now has a home of its own where we can get updates like Ironicus's Rules Corner and Plaz's explanation of how he worked out his character without having to step on toes or root through other posts. Long Live LP13A! (I do wish the Orc Lord had been more of a thing. That seems like it could have been interesting.)
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Aug 4, 2013 03:07
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Stackblocks posted:(I do wish the Orc Lord had been more of a thing. That seems like it could have been interesting.) Having a positive relationship with the Orc Lord is fun. My character has one and it's probably had the most direct affect on our party's campaign so far.
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Aug 4, 2013 03:32
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Kalsco posted:I'm wondering if I could get some info in what (if any) changes you guys went through when deciding on your one unique things. Intentions, initial goals, scrapped ideas (and why,) etc. I'm starting up a 13th Age campaign myself shortly and would love some insight on how you came up with your unique things, so I can give myself something to relate to when it comes to the character creation step amongst a bunch of people who have never played it before. Rip's One Unique Thing was kind of half-assed at first. After reading the bard mechanics (bards are basically always my first choice of class) and realizing that they can be played as tanks, I tried to justify a bard that got up close and personal and settled on a berserker themed sort of guy. After playing a few sessions with his one unique thing being basically "he's just really mad" I realized (with Ironicus's advice) that asking WHY Rip is so mad was the key to developing a good OUT that was actually....y'know, unique. Rip's possession gave me a good thing to work with and eventually make into a pretty big plot point, as you'll see in the upcoming sessions!
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Aug 4, 2013 05:06
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"UPDATE Comin' at ya!" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRLIrRZA3pM Episode 23-6: Botis Brawl In this episode, the hellhole continues accelerating and Botis continues wrecking fools. Eventually things reach a tipping point. SPLOOOOOSH! Once again, someone in the game has a birthday, but nobody drew me anything to share with you  (that I know of [yet]).
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Aug 4, 2013 15:56
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Happy birthday, Ironicus! My gift to you is the knowledge that I'm now binging through session 17, and enjoying the game more with every instalment! Edit: "Margaret has no objection to a little cannibalism." The post-fight discussion on how to proceed in 18c is really nice, it's kind of a mix of table talk and in-character, feels like the party talking around the campfire. Striking Yak fucked around with this message at 20:04 on Aug 4, 2013 |
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Aug 4, 2013 17:32
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General Ironicus posted:Once again, someone in the game has a birthday, but nobody drew me anything to share with you Happy birthday, Ironicus. 
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Aug 4, 2013 21:19
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I wasn't sure whether to do a PC or NPC sketch for birthday fanart, but then I remembered there was one character who was both:
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Aug 5, 2013 04:09
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Oh goodness, he's so happy with those kittens. Thank you! Aspects of the Age: Backgrounds Most d20 systems have a list of skills and a system for assigning them numerical values. Basically, this doesn't work. People, even fictional people, learn and develop all sorts of interrelated skills through life. Putting things you can do in a certain number of separate boxes leads to silly situations and can make unique character concepts difficult to make, rules-as-written. Instead, The 13th Age uses it's Background system. Backgrounds are one of my two favorite things in this game, the other one will be in my next writeup. Backgrounds let you say what you're character is good at by saying what your character is good at. It's just that simple. Each class gets 8 background points to start with and divide among however many the player likes, with a maximum of 5 in any single background. Instead of a skill, your background should describe something your character is experienced in that suggests a suite of skills. This blog post covers a lot of the same stuff I'm writing here, and also a great process for making very evocative backgrounds. When it's time to test a skill the formula is d20+level+relevant ability modifier+relevant background, pretty simple. Let's say you want to play a classic big dumb fighter. He's an arena fighting champion but didn't go in for much book learnin'. A traditional skill system will easily model him being really dumb about everything. The Background system will reflect all the knowledge of the worlds arms and armor, fighting styles, intimidation, and how to schmooze with other warriors that a skill system wouldn't. It also helps two incredibly intelligent members of the same party keep their areas of expertise separate and unique while a skill list may make their niches overlap. Like the blog I linked above says, strong backgrounds talk about that your characters were up to before the campaign and act as another way to develop the setting, add plot hooks, and pepper the world with NPCs. If one of your players picks "monk trainee" that's fine, but if instead it's "acolyte of the Black Lotus temple" then we have a location to visit, an implied rivalry with a White Lotus temple, and all sorts of ideas can start spilling out. I don't think "Endurance" or "Move Silently" ever launched a campaign plot. Backgrounds make determining what you're good at personal, malleable, and flexible; all while bringing it back to the fiction and keeping the game oriented on the story.
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Aug 5, 2013 17:21
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Just want to remind everyone that one of medibot's backgrounds is "Moon Survivor" Another is "Small Appliance Repair" You can do whatever the hell you want with backgrounds. It's just up to you to make the case to the DM as to why a background is appropriate in any given situation. It is one of the greatest things that 13th Age does and I love it.
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Aug 5, 2013 18:24
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100 HOGS AGREE posted:l you want with backgrounds. It's just up to you to make the case to the DM as to why a background is appropriate in any given situation. This is one of my favourite aspects as well. It encourages more creative solutions to problems, because your character is drawing from more general experiences, rather than any specific skill. And it encourages characters to be actual characters, rather than just a statblock with a name. Rather than a personality and backstory being extras you put over the skeleton of your stats, the two are melded together. Still catching up, but the more of the world that gets explored, the more I like it. Behemoths are great, they carry a real sense of importance and mystery. And a Hellhole is opening under Rigby's feet oh man!  And the party is being hunted by Harpies and Owlbears and possibly villagers and that Satyr rear end in a top hat. This is just a great scenario, well done Ironicus (and everyone else, since 13A is collaborative) for crafting such an exciting story! Striking Yak fucked around with this message at 19:35 on Aug 5, 2013 |
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Aug 5, 2013 19:31
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So I've gotten started on the podcasts, and I just finished the first 3 hour playtest session. Would I be missing anything if I skipped to the first actual home campaign sessions? I don't want to miss out on anything "plot relevant" but I think I slept through most of hour two and three. Which is shame, because it's a pretty interesting system.
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Aug 5, 2013 23:27
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You're pretty safe skipping the prologue. You miss out on RIP SMOULDERBOULDER performing a great feat of headbutting, but that's about it. The numbered sessions has the party proper form.
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Aug 5, 2013 23:50
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The recap in the OP exists for a reason. Feel free to jump in wherever you like. If the spirit moves you to go back those episodes will still be waiting for you.
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Aug 6, 2013 00:26
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I really enjoy the background system, for the reasons Ironicus outlined. In my case, Scarlett's backgrounds are: 1: Mage Training, based on her years of study at one of the Archmage's arcane colleges. It basically covers anything magical she needs to do, obviously. 2: Adventuring Family, based on her early life growing up in Axis with a family of crazy fighters. It basically covers any physical skills she might have that a typical mage might not like running, climbing, etc. I should also point out that her background, being Marked by the Great Gold Wyrm, was actually suggested to me because I couldn't think of one myself. I've been pretty happy with it, though, because it's added some interesting layers to her character wouldn't have been there otherwise (ie; her views on destiny and religion, etc) Basically what I'm saying is I like this game a lot more than D&D.
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Aug 6, 2013 02:20
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I like how the system allows each character to better inhabit their roles in the party by not being bound to stat nonsense like [3 SWIMMING]. Unfortunately combat does still fall into a wad of the D20 system's pitfalls (even with things like the escalation die), but the combat is usually going to be one of my less favorite elements in a D20 system. The characters will dodge, shimmy, and slide their way inside the guard of a foe and swing and miss over and over again, sometimes winding up a bit dry. It's like Morrowind, which has the weirdest and most wondrous setting of the modern Elder Scrolls games, but it's combat is still tied to the robot managed dice-rolling of old isometric PC RPGS. At least with a good DM you do get the range of failure -> fail forward -> success, instead of a flat denial of progress.
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Aug 6, 2013 06:52
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Up? Date! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4gQ41n1Gv8 13th Age #24-1: Meetings and Marriage We're going to leave you on that sopping wet cliffhanger for a while. As mentioned, I had to take a break from running the game for a bit, and PublicOpinion offered to run a one-shot to keep the ball rolling. The next few updates are that session. Hooray! In this episode, we explore what was going on in another corner of the Empire while the Rogue Elements were having their hellhole caper. We'd like to thank PublicOpinion again for serving as guest GM and making a great adventure. Featuring: Ambisagrus as Slamby Gastronette A Wooden Pallisade as Bocca Chiusa Medibot as Gerald of the Mountain Plasmaman as Prienne Mandorle
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Aug 6, 2013 18:42
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Man, Scarlett had an awesome session 20! Shoots a Force Salvo at an Owlbear, scorches it with fire breath as it charges her, effortlessly parries its claws with Shield, then just claps her hands and knocks it out. And then deals 300 damage with a single spell. Question for Drakkel, how did you picture the fireball working? Scarlett just making a giant orb from her flame breath, charging it up while the battle rages below? With the skies swirling in the background as a portal to hell rips open below, it's just an incredible visual. I don't know what I'm gonna do when I run out of backlog to catch up on. 
Striking Yak fucked around with this message at 19:15 on Aug 6, 2013 |
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Aug 6, 2013 19:07
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Oh man! My session! Very rarely am I so excited for something when I know exactly how it goes. Here's Gerald of the Mountain Apardu and Bocca's pog art:  
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Aug 6, 2013 19:14
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Striking Yak posted:Man, Scarlett had an awesome session 20! Shoots a Force Salvo at an Owlbear, scorches it with fire breath as it charges her, effortlessly parries its claws with Shield, then just claps her hands and knocks it out. Finally someone who appreciates Scarlett's artistry with arcane forces! A normal fireball is just a big ol' ball of fire, but the superchared version I imagine looks a little something like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ceg1Mxz49kA
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Aug 7, 2013 02:43
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 EXCITING ANNOUNCEMENT!The game is finally out, and the books have begun arriving in the mail for preorderers. I've found myself with a second copy and feel like sharing the love. That's why I'm announcing a contest! We want you to make a 13th Age character that someone might see in a game. It might be a PC, an NPC, or even an Icon. The primary and unifying judging criteria is that your entry be fun to play with/as. The one we like best will get my spare copy shipped to them! Art is not required but it sure can't hurt your chances. Eligibility Rules: -Only one entry per person. Feel free to make as many as you want, but if you make more than one entry please clearly mark one as submitted for judging. -The winner must be in the US. International shipping for something this weight is nuts, so I will only be shipping to a US address. Again; feel free to join in, but you will not be eligible for the prize. Sorry about that. -People who already own the game are ineligible for the prize. Don't be greedy, but if you have an idea to share we'd love to see it (same as non-US residents). -Members of the crew are eligible, but if any enter they're kicked out of the judging. I promise. Tips: -For a PC be sure to have a dramatic One Unique Thing and evocative Backgrounds. Tell us their story, not their stats. The mechanics are in the book you're trying to win, after all. -A Good NPC is a person players will be happy to see again, even if it's a love-to-hate sort of thing. -Icons should have interesting things determined and interesting things left blank. They need a reason to be rooted in the world and to care about adventurers. -Remember that the winner will be the character who makes us say "I'd love that character to be in our next session". Have some fun! Entries must be posted in this thread by Monday the 12th of August at 5pm Central time. E: A point of clarification, entries should be good for a hypothetical game in general, possibly but not necessarily including our campaign. Prize Eligible Entries: Rosemary Thyme, by BearDrivingTruck Eol Moah, by Foolster41 The Riglax, by KillerQueen Cameron "Cam" O'Meer, by Kobold Trip Caster & Flip Blaster, by Stackblocks Dmitri, the human packmule, by TwelveBaud Livay Athinn, by Demonia Janos, the Phantom of New Port, by Dr. Demon Nadir Paulo Crismuth, by thetoughestbean Cleo, by Patchwork Brak Nethrop, by Devil Ed James Evans, by ArkInBlack Dupré Galebert, by ZenMasterBullshit Aiana Kan, by catdynamite Nathaniel Gadda da Vida, by Anchors Just-for-funsies: Toadstool Princess by Heavy Zed Ahgrabad the Armless, by Brinty Martin Peters/Mandragora the Magnificent, by Roach Warehouse Mima Cureba, by Cariloo Xerana, by Doomlittle Sir Landon Pentine, by OmniDesol Honda, by Striking Yak Hector Antonio Espinato, by Northan Echo, by Pyradox The Rot Prince, by Striking Yak The Professor, by Striking Yak ???, by Doomlittle Zin'ger, by Doomlittle Urchin, by Striking Yak Jack Welch, by Zealous Q The Valut of Truth, by Doomlittle Baron of Irons, by Striking Yak Arvanian, by Mecheon Feedback: Part 1 Part 2 ...and the winner is General Ironicus fucked around with this message at 22:00 on Aug 14, 2013 |
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Aug 7, 2013 03:33
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I'm not qualified (book is in the mail) but I'll start things off anyway with what would have been my entry: An icon based on the Myconid race from the bestiary. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1j1RFLmfv6bl87ax9phlU2LDV8fEsuCjzRJYdHLV6Y2g/pub
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Aug 7, 2013 03:55
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As one of seven judges, I'd just like to say I heartily accept bribes. e: I mean a new avatar would be nice who the gently caress even is this devil dude ugh???
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Aug 7, 2013 04:01
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Man I'm not qualified either but I have a 13th age PC that I've been sitting on for a while and this might be motivation enough for me to actually write some interesting poo poo out about him. Time to think up some of the misadventures of Hector the ridiculously woodsy ranger and his sidekick literally the baby incarnation of a bear god entrusted to him by the High Druid.
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Aug 7, 2013 04:33
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Where would we post these entries?
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Aug 7, 2013 04:52
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