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So I'm finally going to be running 13th Age instead of just playing for the first time, but one of the group made a joke about space wizards so now I'm going to be running a game in the 31st Age instead? I've gotten most of my Icons rewritten but I have no idea what to do with the High Druid because I think a lot of their angles were covered by the other rewritten icons. So far I have: The Empire is now The Known Galaxy, an adhocratic complex of bureaucracies and treaties held in place by The Grand Conciliator, who rules the interplanetary government entirely by charisma and total knowledge of every agreement every planet has made with each other. Their goal is the stability of the intragalactic order, full stop. Divine Magic is now Ineffable Science, recognized as unmeasurable phenomena that cannot be explained but only experienced. The Celestial Mechanic is the captain and engineer of the Cathedral Ship, and drifts through space to verify and experience ineffable events. The Archmage replacement (which needs a name better than Scientist Supreme but that's the working title) is obsessed with cataloging and testing to determine the ultimate limits of ineffability, to know exactly what can and cannot be recorded and repeated. The various races are more cultural groups that share similarities due to things like genetic engineering than single individual species. Elves are a philosophy that focuses on biotechnology as art and routinely are subject to exotic life extension techniques to live long enough to perfect their individual aesthetic. The Elf Queen is both the original writer of the Elven Manifesto and the enforcer of the one unbreakable rule of the art: Death Will Come Tomorrow. No matter how far an elf extends their life, true immortality is to be scorned because art is at it's core powered by a finite existence. The Liche, or The Artifice to the elves, disagrees strongly. Which is awkward because he was the coauthor of the Elven Manifesto. Death, in the end, is Gauche. Not a crime or an outrage but an embarrassment. Necrotechnology is his purview, and there would be far less objections to it if he didn't consider it mandatory. Or if some of his fellow early adopters weren't fueled by blood or souls or distilled suffering. The depravity that fuels his own existence is spoken of only in whispers, possibly originating from Elven rumormongers. The Dwarf Star, Gift to All, is a living mechanical planet that gives the dwarven people everything of herself. The metal of her bones, the heat of her blood, even the powerful energies of her very heart are given freely. Dwarves look to mimic their patron by giving of themselves to the needing. Dwarves have also gotten very, very good at figuring out who the actually needy are. It's a fool that tries to cheat a dwarf. Everything will be okay so long as The Dwarf Star never transforms into her bipedal robotic war form. Orcs are not a single species but the catch-all term for any species from beyond the galactic borders. The Imperium Orcus is an almost total mystery, and the hesitant first contacts with The Known Galaxy have been inconclusive at best. They may bring war on a scale unknown to galactic history or bring untold wealth and knowledge. The Orcs currently in the Known Galaxy are giving mixed messages. The Diabolist is now The Anathema, who acts entirely out of mercy. Demons are things beyond possibility, and they bear no hostility. Their very presence, however, is hostile to reality itself. But The Anathema believes that rescuing them away from their cold dead worlds is a moral imperative that justifies any horrors that follow. The Great Gold Worm equivalent is The Quantum Constant. The Quantum Constant is the allegorical concept of the most fundamental rules of reality. Many adherents view it not only as physical laws but moral obligations as well. There are those that even believe that the Constant is actually a sentient thing, the will of the universe itself. The Realist is here to enforce The Law. Part enforcer part luddite, the Realist knows that the problems of life happen because no one obeys The Laws that he has been made privy to. All discontent shall be removed, all unhappiness lifted. Those that have joined him have found this to be true, but perhaps they were the types who already enjoyed being in an unyielding legalistic hierarchy. The Three are the three chairs of Draconis (tm). Draconis has what you need, and most of what you want. So long as you pay their price. Draconis is not capitalistic, however. They desire no profit. They're simply intimately aware of the true value of things. And they brook little disagreement on their evaluations. The Prince of Shadows is now The Infinite No One. Not their actual name, if it is a single person. It may be a conspiracy, or just a name on a concept. The Infinite No One is the guarantee that, should you say or think of possibly even just believe in your heart of hearts that "No One could possibly..." that you will be proven wrong. The Infinite No One is the exemplar of individual achievement, the ability to do the impossible. Whether you should never enters the equation. Not quite sure where a final Icon could fit in, or if I actually need a full 13 honestly.....
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Mar 1, 2017 06:37
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| # ? May 20, 2024 17:40 |
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The High Druid could just be a biological hive mind entity spreading throughout the galaxy to ensure the continued legacy of organic sentience in any and all forms. Like Tyranids with some thought behind them. All parasites and altering forms to fit whatever they encounter and make sure they are always top of the food chain to properly ensure life will go on.
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Mar 1, 2017 06:57
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Bioengineering and the organic technology angle is pretty much the Elf Queen's bag, is my problem with that idea.
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Mar 1, 2017 07:01
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I really like the Infinite No One - somehow I came up with the thought of "anonymous Simon the Digger" and was quite amused. As for your Druid equivalent, even the normal High Druid and Elf Queen have stronger conceptual ties to each other than most other pairs of icons. And that no, you might not need or want a full 13 icons and that's fine. e: or you could play up the terraforming/climate adjustment angle, which the Elf Queen isn't using already. AweStriker fucked around with this message at 07:17 on Mar 1, 2017 |
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Mar 1, 2017 07:14
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If there's room for it in your concept of the setting, you could pretty easily replace the environmental themes of the High Druid with almost The-Force like mythology. I don't have a pithy name for them but your space druids could believes in forces like the gravitational rotation of the galaxy being a guiding hand in all things from the tides, to the actions of humans. E: In retrospect this is like a weird non-earthbound astrology
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Mar 1, 2017 07:19
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There's something in Myriad Song that might fit for the High Druid: The Metanomic Corps. Militant ecologists who tend to untouched garden worlds and will neither confirm nor deny that they have found incredible secrets in those untamed wildernesses that they can ruin your day with if you try to mess with them.
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Mar 1, 2017 07:36
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You could have the High Druid AKA The Conservator be a bit more... well... conservative than the elves, viewing terraforming and bio-engineering as desecrating the natural state of worlds throughout the galaxy. After all, the Elven Manifesto had to be directed at someone. Amusingly, that would mean that The Conservator's servants are quite technologically advanced, as living on and studying planets without terraforming requires very advanced colonization techniques. If you see a giant transparisteel tower in the middle of a hostile, toxic jungle, it's probably the Conservator's. And trust me, don't go snooping around. Just because they don't bioengineer anything doesn't mean that they haven't collected the nastiest beasties this side of the cosmos to serve as guard dogs. Edit: oh come onnnnnn. Capfalcon fucked around with this message at 07:43 on Mar 1, 2017 |
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Mar 1, 2017 07:40
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What everyone's really saying is take a moment to properly write up this setting, pay a goon a bit of editing cash, and push that poo poo on DriveThru because holy poo poo 31st Age is totally a thing I need.
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Mar 1, 2017 09:09
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31st Age High Druid is starting to remind me of Braniac, which could be another point of inspiration.
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Mar 1, 2017 15:44
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The High Druid could also be radically opposed to the use of biotech engineering. The ultimate anti-GMO hippy.
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Mar 1, 2017 15:57
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CaptainPsyko posted:The High Druid could also be radically opposed to the use of biotech engineering. The ultimate anti-GMO hippy. Anti-genetic modification of any type + terrorist organization that uses genetically engineered bioweapons to show people how awful the implementation of this technology is
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Mar 1, 2017 17:36
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S.J. posted:Anti-genetic modification of any type + terrorist organization that uses genetically engineered bioweapons to show people how awful the implementation of this technology is They 'liberate' genetically modified creatures, starve them into violent rages, then unleash them on cities. A select few are kept and trained as companions.
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Mar 1, 2017 17:42
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CaptainPsyko posted:They 'liberate' genetically modified creatures, starve them into violent rages, then unleash them on cities. Yes. With implied 28 days later kinds of scenarios.
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Mar 1, 2017 17:43
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Also, the High Druids resistance of gene-tech means that her followers have some of the shortest lifespans in the galaxy - as a consequence of this, they are rumored to control the most extensive and complete library in all of creation. They're even rumored to have developed wild new techniques for learning and retaining information and training new skills - it's said that the Druidic Archives contain texts that can teach a child to be an ace pilot, a master technician, and the entire legal code of civilized space in a matter of months. The Druids, of course, deny this.
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Mar 1, 2017 17:48
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Gene therapy has trickled into consumer capitalism. Mini dragons, blinded basilisks, non toxic oozes that clean your house. The Core worlds are full of bastardized monsters thanks to the Elf Queen and Archmage analogues. The High Conservatory does do gene therapy research. But it's mostly so they can create chemical weapons that rapidly undo gene therapy. Suddenly your peaceful capital is filled with actual dragons and otyughs in their proper terrifying form. Conversely your hulked out superOrcs turn back into dudes wearing ill fitting power armor.
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Mar 1, 2017 20:05
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Yo, thanks everyone for the various concepts! High Druid as Master Terraformer, who creates jewel worlds of pristine nature while also inflicting the opposite to planets seemingly at whim. Get a bit of Dune in there possibly, or maybe they work to create some unknown conditions for planetary alignments and astrological symbology create the desired effects. Definitely stealing the anti-genetech stuff for the Realist, as well. They're as much Luddite as Legalist. In all honesty my original concept was just https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFpE_iNtWAo I'm hoping to flesh out a lot of other details with my players once the actual game starts, and if people are actually interested I can throw it all in a gdoc or similar once we're more into the meat of it.
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Mar 2, 2017 03:36
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So after owning the core book for about two years I might finally be running a game soon. I know there seems to be a lot of balance issues with the classes in 13 True Ways, but I have people interested in playing both the Monk and the Commander classes. I understand both these classes, the monk in particular, are underpowered as written. A few questions - are there good fixes for these classes and what other balance issues should I be on the lookout for? Is there anything in the core book that needs to be looked at for balance issues? I realize some amount of imbalance probably won't affect play too badly but I'd rather start with the most level playing field possible.
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Mar 3, 2017 21:33
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EverettLO posted:So after owning the core book for about two years I might finally be running a game soon. I can't get to the site because I'm at work, but I do have a class that somewhat fixes the power issues with the Monk called the Improved Monk on the 13th Age Vault. Same is true for the Fighter from Core.
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Mar 3, 2017 21:39
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the quick and sloppy fix i've heard for the monk is bump all its damage dice up one dice, so when you're doing the d6 attack roll d8 and so on i never played it with that fix though so idk if that's enough, some more might need to be done about the number of ability scores the monk needs high
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Mar 3, 2017 21:40
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Covok posted:I can't get to the site because I'm at work, but I do have a class that somewhat fixes the power issues with the Monk called the Improved Monk on the 13th Age Vault. Same is true for the Fighter from Core. That looks like a very good solution for the monk and any fighters. I take it fighters were underperforming before?
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Mar 4, 2017 02:06
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So what classes beyond the obvious goon-made ones are worth checking out in The Vault?
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Mar 4, 2017 03:09
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EverettLO posted:So after owning the core book for about two years I might finally be running a game soon. Covok's Improved Monk for Monk. For commander, talk out what they're going for and then push them towards a multiclass. Commander with an emphasis on dailies over the cp powers multiclasses really well and makes a very fun and powerful character. Commander alone can feel weak. Commander multiclass uses any of the talents that let you start with cp and the multiclass feat to attack once for CP. Then you pick the cheap utility commands that let allies heal and roll saves. After that, you only pick tactics so you can rock 1 or 2 tactics a fight. You use all of your quick actions as a commander and all of your standard as your other class. This works because 13th age fights tend to be quick, like 3-4 rounds. So you really only have 3 quick actions to use and if you start with 3 cp and then get another 0-3 cp from your first attack every fight and then you spend one of your quick actions on a daily, that's more than enough to cover you for the whole battle. Your other class can be almost anything. Thinking about hitting with swords? Fighter, Ranger, Paladin, or even Rogue. Master Strategist? Wizard or Necromancer and sling dailies all day long. The only classes that won't mix well are bard, cleric, chaos mage, and barbarian because you won't have enough free quick actions to commander it up. Even then, it'll probably be alright.
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Mar 4, 2017 18:27
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While Palamander is an almost perfect multiclass to "Fix" Commander I think the class stands well on its own. You just have to have the mindset that your contribution to things like damage is marked more by your ability to make sure your big guns never miss/gets extra attacks during clutch situations. You're a Cleric or Bard without magic. Not a Barbarian with extra tricks.
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Mar 4, 2017 18:54
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Commander/Paladin is arguably entirely better than straight Commander or straight Paladin.
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Mar 4, 2017 19:07
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01011001 posted:Commander/Paladin is arguably entirely better than straight Commander or straight Paladin. I won't disagree with this. But I will say that Multiclassing is an optional rule, and if it's not allowed there's nothing wrong with either class outside of taste. Need some help with content. Got a new group and I'm writing a trio of campaign arcs around Concord feasts and festivals. For Heroic tier I've got the following lined up: The Forest of Epicurean Delight: Fantastic Feasts and Where to Find Them As the spring festival nears chefs sharpen their knives, foragers begin to see gold blooming in the woods, and the call for adventure goes out. Cooks from all 7 of the Great Cities are slated to arrive in Concord for the Gourmet's War, a month long celebration of the food, drink, and art of every race. While chefs arrive with most of their own ingredients everybody knows that the winning kitchens always get their main ingredients from the forests between Concord and Drakkenhall, due to an old battle between the Blue and the Elf Queen the area pulses with magic. This has caused strange mutations that are just as likely to kill you as they are to become the next culinary fad. Fields of flowers grow encased in delicate crystalline nectar. Elementally mutated boars that are born perfectly seasoned. Bewitched springs of sparkling wine. These are just some of the known wonders that have come out of the forest in the past. However there are also toxic flowers hidden behind latent illusions, carnivorous fruit trees that consider the eating of fruit to be morally repugnant, and as it turns out coating a boar's hide in salt makes it even harder than Hell to jab a blade through. The forest is considered so dangerous that normally the Archmage maintains powerful wards around the affected area. However, one month before the Gourmet War it is lowered and dozens of fortune seekers and chefs too poor to afford mercenaries flood into the woods, hoping to find culinary treasure before they find themselves on something's menu. You are a band of such people. Whether you're interested in the competition, here for the money, or have a need to find something in the forest this month is your chance to do so. You became a party in Concord and travelled here, to Burrow. We open on your party standing in front of the Ward lowering and opening ceremony of the Hunt. Encounters I have planned: Stampeding game animals as an early skill challenge. If they pass they get a couple hundred GP of ingredients, if they fail they get to fight whatever's chasing the herd for a couple hundred GP of ingredients. A rare flower that only blooms once every hundred years is discovered by the party. Unfortunately scouts from other parties see it too. The party has to lock down the area for X rounds until the flower blooms, at which point a rare drop of crystalline nectar forms in the center of the bloom. It's worth 2500 GP. Battle with a rival team amidst exploding mushrooms. A trader's rendezvous here and there to either offload unwanted ingredients and to buy new gear. Essentially a heavily armed group that's not really hunting for anything. They're just selling mundane gear, potions and general supplies and buying nonessential ingredients. The party discovers a brewing stone. Depending on what they put in the top + some water from the nearby spring a different potion or oil will pour out of the bottom. It has 1d4 charges in which they can figure out how to make stuff. A grove of sweet smelling carnivorous plants. Anything that's not completely digested when you kill one is perfectly marinated. A piece of meat from here will restore 1 Recovery when cooked and eaten. Kept raw you can get 500 gp out of each serving. I need other Encounters, ideas for cooking themed monsters, and ideas for cooking themes for different races(I have Halfling and Half-Orc/Orc mostly covered. But I want something more fun for Dwarves than "roasted meat and ale") Also ideas for Magical weapons and armor are always appreciated.
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Mar 7, 2017 01:58
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first off let me say that's a dope as hell campaign idea and i'm jealous of your group for getting to play in itRazorwired posted:I need other Encounters, ideas for cooking themed monsters, and ideas for cooking themes for different races(I have Halfling and Half-Orc/Orc mostly covered. But I want something more fun for Dwarves than "roasted meat and ale") Also ideas for Magical weapons and armor are always appreciated. dwarves: they're the underground guys so weird poo poo you'd only find underground. roast bullette in a glowing mushroom sauce. cheeses fermented by the ancestors that tastes as good as bad as it smells(a lot) high elves: basically look up the most ridiculous molecular gastronomy stuff and just use that gnomes: willy wonka. just willy wonka rando magical items/weapons: giant fork+knife combo, giant plate for a shield, giant pizza cutter, magical spice rack belt (puts a temporary vulnerability on a melee-range foe or something like that), cocktail kit of holding, table salt that actually does put a curse on anyone who grabs it directly from your hand, miniature gelatinous cube familiar, breath mints that let you spew out flame/ice/electricity like a dragon
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Mar 7, 2017 02:24
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Dwarves are masters of slow cooking. Do you need to smoke something for a while? Should you soak the deer tendons in duck fat? How long do you want to leave that flask of sun tea in the sun? How long should you leave your rotten urine soaked shark buried in the sand? If the answer to any of these questions is, "Longer than a month," a dwarf is probably what you want. Some say the Dwarves have been making the same soup since the dawn of the 11th age... and no one knows if it tastes any good.
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Mar 7, 2017 04:37
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As in "the same recipe" or literally continually having the same batch on the fire, where either they occasionally take from and add to it or that's just how long it takes to make it?
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Mar 7, 2017 09:16
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The latter, it's an irish stew gone to extremes.
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Mar 7, 2017 11:36
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I will say this, whenever I poke around with my own homebrew, I always do so with the assumption that multiclassing doesn't exist, if just because it can throw in so many wrenches. Also, while yes, dwarves do live underground, they probably also manage the tops of their mountains too, so their cuisine would likely use up a lot of goat and possibly mutton.
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Mar 7, 2017 11:48
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Dwarves mine salt, have access to areas that are cold-round and well-insulated underground storage, and goat's milk is a staple of their diet. So dwarven cuisine adventures obviously need to involve hauling ice cream before it all melts.
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Mar 7, 2017 13:29
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Cease to Hope posted:Dwarves mine salt, have access to areas that are cold-round and well-insulated underground storage, and goat's milk is a staple of their diet.  Dwarven Ice cream delivery is now a quest. Holy poo poo. Actually all these suggestions were a TON of help. Thanks y'all.
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Mar 7, 2017 18:11
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Have the stars aligned correctly and blood sacrifice properly slain so that 13th Age Glorantha can be released to the Earth?
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Mar 7, 2017 19:27
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Covok posted:Have the stars aligned correctly and blood sacrifice properly slain so that 13th Age Glorantha can be released to the Earth? They just posted an update about all the little faces they'd created to show who was telling all the little legends in the book, so I think layout still has a while to go.
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Mar 7, 2017 19:28
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Razorwired posted:I need other Encounters, ideas for cooking themed monsters, and ideas for cooking themes for different races(I have Halfling and Half-Orc/Orc mostly covered. But I want something more fun for Dwarves than "roasted meat and ale") Also ideas for Magical weapons and armor are always appreciated. Gnomish (or elvish or pixie, someone magical and tricky) cuisine that is entirely illusion. You see, it's not about the food, it's about the presentation! Unfortunately, there's some disagreement about whether this is a fair service for coin - and by the way, eating pure magic may not mix well with all of the other magical strangeness going on. Something extra dimensional the PCs can't possibly fight (a djinn, a balrog, etc.) shows up to enjoy the festivities. Nobody is going to say no - but this particular one is infamous for its short temper. Someone's spicing their food with worgnip, and the scent lingers on you for d3 days. Some (vegan, they insist) trolls are willing to teach you alchemical gastronomy, troll-style. Imagine what you can learn from someone with a troll's lifetime of experience shrugging off results from the potion miscibility table! Then again, trolls consider anything that isn't on fire or dissolving the container this second to be food. Plus, you are palling around with trolls... Roasted carcasses are still valid targets for zombie creation magic.
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Mar 8, 2017 05:47
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Brother Entropy posted:rando magical items/weapons: giant fork+knife combo, giant plate for a shield, giant pizza cutter, magical spice rack belt (puts a temporary vulnerability on a melee-range foe or something like that), cocktail kit of holding, table salt that actually does put a curse on anyone who grabs it directly from your hand, miniature gelatinous cube familiar, breath mints that let you spew out flame/ice/electricity like a dragon quote:Roasted carcasses are still valid targets for zombie creation magic. Jackard fucked around with this message at 06:02 on Mar 8, 2017 |
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Mar 8, 2017 05:54
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Oh, and loot Dungeon Meshi (just google it, dunno if fantranslated manga is  ) for ideas for fantasy dungeon crawling plus eating everything. 
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Mar 8, 2017 06:08
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There’s a new Fate World called Uranium Chef that’s a sci-fi take on the same idea. You could probably raid it for ideas.
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Mar 8, 2017 08:46
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I've never run an adventure out of a book and am not really sure how, my players are all level 7, could I run the living dungeon book with them if I up the lower level stuff up to 7?
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Mar 29, 2017 08:56
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Most encounters are designed for tougher fights too and will detail how to make those set piece fights still dangerous. Take that advice and bump up up and defenses and it should be seamless. That said there are a few upper level encounters that, unmodified, might actually be fair for lvl 7.
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Mar 29, 2017 20:08
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