Nem the GM finishes setting up his 'space' at the round dining room table. A green felt cloth has been laid over it, for the dice rolling and to protect the finish.
Behind the GM screen, the hefty 322-page 13th Age hardback lies close to hand, on top of another less welcome addition (for the players), the 13th Age Bestiary. A home-made notepad and chunky ballpoint pen are his primary tools. The notepad is made from discarded sheets of A4 paper, folded, a piece of string, and a classy AD&D birthday card with a metallic finish, depicting Keith Parkinson's Gods of Lankhmar.
As usual, he's left his fancy Chessex dice at home and intends to borrow Gypsy's, since hers have strange, otherworldly powers that his own polygons do not. (This has also proven to negate the hexes she casts on his dice rolling.)
There's a plastic wallet with printouts of everyone's character sheets, but hopefully the earstwhile players have brought their own. He settles into his highbacked chair and opens a can of vanilla Dunn's River Nurishment. This will sustain him until the customary evening meal. It will also turn his pee green.
He toys with his moustaches. He thinks he is ready. And as with all GM's when they think that, he is wrong.
yep... Big bag of blue corn chips, cup of tea, automatic pencil with extra eraser and a container of leads, bunch of scrap paper cut into 4x4 pieces and of course, said dice...
Owain is right, nice setup <g> I am bringing some wine ... as well as several sets of Chessex dice ... you can never have too many Chessex dice <chuckle>
Sitting down after having dropped off soda and chips and pulling out my Gencon commemorative dice set, old pencil stubs without any erasers left, but a nice pink block eraser instead. Slipping a newly printed pc sheet onto the table and smiling at those gathered.
"Man I haven't been at a nice FTF game in forever." He came in and set down his backpack. Pulling the bag of little sweet mandarin oranges out he took a couple and set them on the community food space. Returning to the table, he slipped his water bottle out and pulled out his tablet. Turning on the tablet and his blue tooth keyboard, that portion was ready. But he added a chainmail dice bag with copper colored links spelling the P that matches his last name. A mechanical pencil, a binder with lined sheets and blank pages, a nice white eraser and a package of colored pens.
His little corner of the round world setup, he opens the binder with a printed version of his character sheet to go with his electronic one. He was ready.
Last edited by Pandemonium; Sat 25/04/1523:52 UTC.
Staggering in late with a big box of Cheezits and a 64 ounce Lemon-Lime Gatorade, he put a mid-sized steno pad on the table and pulled a Zebra mechanical pencil and two narrow point highlighters (yellow and orange) from a pocket along with a Crown Royal bag of dice of all types and placed them all on the table.
"First time I've played an FTF game since uh... 2008, I think."
"I guess I'm the last one to the party?" Grabs an empty chair, sets a 12pk Shiner Bock on the table and sits. Opens the notebook, takes out character sheet, pentel .5mm pencil and blank hex paper. "Damn, forgot my dice!"
Actually, I think Gypsy will be last, it's her birthday today and she said she'd be a little late.
Surprised you made it on time, Zeim! I heard you were celebrating at Stringfellows into the wee hours?
If you need a cup of coffee, I think Phoenix Prime's in the kitchen making hot drinks, if anyone's interested.
You in there, Phoenix!?
...
Anyway, great to see you all. So first thing's first. Over here on the left you can see the dice rollers. Currently there's only one called Pre-Game. That's where you roll your dice.
We don't want any d4s going rogue. We all know what happens then.
I'll create a new dice roller for each phase or battle in the game, and that will also help us keep track of how spent the PCs are.
Generally speaking, when the rolls are standard D&D-style rolls, I'll roll the dice for you, to keep things moving. When there's an interesting 13th Age specific roll, I'll highlight it and you can make the roll.
OK, next. You'll notice my Battlemat and miniatures are still in my bag. The 13th Age creators wanted their game to take place in the "theatre of the mind" and designed the rules with that, um, in mind. So unless a battle gets really arse-backwards, we just use our imagination.
So before we start, I'd you all to tell us a little about your character. Pitch it to us as succinctly as possible. Short and to the point, tell us their "name tag" name, race/class and well, what excites you about them, I guess.
Weston is a Human fighter. He knows the city well ... assuming we are in the city where he grew up ... haven't really talked about that part yet and don't know the world geography so well. He tried his father's trade of caravan work, but found it awfully boring. So he is currently enamored of the adventurer's life and has decided to try that.
<Owain finishes his chips and pulls a beer out of the small cooler at his feet, making mental notes on the characters his own will be relating to soon.>
Phoenix has never had a cup of coffee or hot tea in his 49 years of existence. So while he is in the kitchen, charged with the task of making the hot beverages, I would be really reticent to try anything he brings out with him.
as usual when it comes to FTF gaming, Phoenix brings his stellar wit and charm (and an exaggerated sense of both) but little in the way of understanding when it comes to game systems.
"Silly. Trixs are for kids." He shook his head before continuing. "My character has a one letter moniker of D. He has more of a name but that will be for later. D is a Dark Elf Rogue. What excites me about him will be exploring his personal story, answering some of the questions that motivate him, and finding the whys. He will be fun to play. That is a great part."
"Nestaron grew up in the wilderness and is good with herbs, as well as the more conventional Clerical healing stuff. He's a bit... intense sometimes, as if he's always looking at something that only he can see, or for something he very much wants to see. Private, averse to crowds and urban areas, he's either incredibly shy or trying to avoid somebody."
Ah-hah, and what's got you excited about Nestaron, Owain?
Btw guys, don't be afraid to share your creations openly. In-continuity, much of what makes your characters most interesting is "secret", yes, but the gaming group should be in on these secrets so we can enjoy them too.
And let's face it, the characters can push-and-pull all they like, but as a gaming group, we should all be pulling in the same direction. Maximal Probability of Big Fun Time.
Seyja is a female human barbarian who was raised in the mountains far to the northeast by a clan who had close ties to the Orc Lord. Since becoming an adventurer, she has become more of a vagabond/wanderer type, staying away from her clan for reasons she would not want to reveal yet.
She wears leather armor, is exceptionally tough and prefers the greataxe.
I like her secrets, all of which even I don't know yet.
Ok in the interests of sharing secrets, Nestaron managed to upset some minions of the Crusader, so he keeps a wary eye out for those fanatics. In addition, he sometimes acts as a courier for the High Druid, and has a really complicated relationship with the Priestess-crew, that he doesn't much like to talk about, but it's more like he's embarrassed about it than anything else.
Healing, fixing, correcting are the things he is always doing or trying to find ways to do. Even if he can't always figure out how, he usually know what he wants to do in a given situation to make it better, or as he says, 'Align more properly with the way things should be'. He's also very knowledgable concerning beer and ale...
Whoops - almost forgot what's got me excited. I look forward to him getting better at seeing more of the underpinnings of creation and finding new ways to more properly align things to it.
"Well in interest of baring secrets. D was a Prince. He did things that weren't exactly the best, heck might even be considered nefarious. He and his entire family was killed in a very brutal way. Then for a time he was something different.
"Should I let that one out of the bag too? The name is cool.
"Now he is back and doesn't have all the answers. Heck not even a few of them. He knows that he made an enemy of The Black, one of The Three. For some reason The Diabolist and The Archmage both have beneficial to him. He has no idea why.
"I could swap the beneficial Icons to match with someone else. I don't have any real agenda other than offering something mysterious to offer threads for the GM."
Last edited by Pandemonium; Sun 26/04/1519:09 UTC.
"Well, Zoltan Molnar, my pc, is a Tiefling Paladin. Though perhaps 'demon-touched' is more accurate. He is an Orphan as well. He knows who his parents were, though he has no idea if one or both still live. He has no memory of them, but knows his father was a demon. He grew up scrabbling among the ruins of The Golden Citadel, near the Red Wastes, and was taken in by forces of the Great Gold Worm when he was young.
He found a god, The Herald, and he is a zealous follower. He believes, as The Herald does, that it is only by killing all that is evil in the world that heaven on earth can exist.
He is opposed to the Diabolist, naturally, and has a positive relationship with the Crusader. Not because he works for him. Crusader followers would probably want to kill him due to his blood. Rather his goals are aligned with the Crusader's. He has a conflicted relationship with the Great Gold Worm. Paladin's typical fall into the GGW's purview, but he is a bit too zealous for comfort.
While a Tiefling, his outer features are muted. Small horns covered mostly by long hair and a hood. No tail. Soft golden skin tone and red eyes that alternate between burning with intensity and having a haunted look.
Besides the contradiction of a pc with demonic blood in his veins who hates demons, the fact he is also a Holy Paladin gives him more flavour.
I look forward to exploring those contradictions and seeing where it takes him."
right now I am just a lurker of the game and will sit in the easy chair in the corner with the virtual rulebook.
If a spot opens up or an in-game need arises then the GM will let me know if I am moving up to the big table.
I haven't really thought too deeply about a character yet, though I may retool a character I used in the short lived 2008 game by Pete Hat (BTR) if given the opportunity. All hypothetical at this point
sits down and takes a drink from the gallon jug of arizona iced tea that I carry around with me when I game... By the way, Donde esta el bano?
Well, that's why you have to drain the jug first, Phoenix!
What was BTR's full name, btw? I don't recall that one.
Pete Hat was a trojan, wasn't he! Great guy. From your state, actually Phoenix, but ended up moving to Blighty. Haven't heard from him in donkeys ages.
13th Age adventures tend to be quite NPC heavy, so even if Phoenix can lend some of his talents to one or two of those, it'll save you from listening to me drone on.
<Nem digs out a pair of X-Mini capsule speakers from his backpack and hooks them up to his smartphone. The new Motorola, one of those new style, embarrassingly large smartphones, like a touchscreened throwback to the Eighties. Strange how fashion cycles even apply to consumer electronics.>
OK, so I'm excited to be GMing. I have a classic D&D adventure here. It's very short, about half the length of The Vessel of Stars (if you remember that one), but it should give us what we need.
It's one of those early modules that doesn't have a plot as such, so that makes it perfect for injecting 13th Age special sauce into it.
I'm excited by the characters you guys have created. Thanks for letting me in on your creative process there.
So here are my thoughts...
Seyja, Human Barbarian. The only female character in the group, and I like that she's a barbarian. I have fond memories of Barbarian Queen! (Shoddy film, but you can't knock that Boris Valejo poster.)
Sorry Exeter, got distracted!! Putting adolescent fantasies to one side, I think Seyja's primitive culture will contrast nicely with the rest of the group and her One Unique Thing makes me wince, in a campaign it would cause so much mayhem...
Tindarien, High Elf Sorcerer. An intriguing character this one, there's an acquisitive tone to Tindarien that I think will help drive the party onwards. For a GM, that's kind of reassuring going into a game!
Jexric, Human Bard. Great, fun character this one. I don't know how Khamsin will play him, but from my reading there's a dash of Jack Sparrow in this one.
Weston, Human Fighter. This is your hero. Hehe, not to say the rest of you aren't protagonists, or heroic even, but Weston's your down-to-earth, humble beginnings hero. The common man with a good heart and a sense of justice.
Cilmion, Half-Elf Cleric. Or it is Nestaron, Owain? This is one of my favourites D&D clerics already. Rather than a archetypal follower of an archetypal D&D deity, Cilmion reads to me like an Old Testament character.
Check it out: Has divine visions. Has split heritage. Was raised by pagans, but has since found religion. Moses anyone? You should consider having him wield a quarterstaff, Owain!
Mysterious D, Dark Elf Rogue. I got Shadow of Mordor vibes from Pandemonium's character. I think he was riffing on another fictional character entirely. But this character's backstory is really asking the GM to inflict mental torture on the player, and I always applaud that. I already have a few ideas!
Zoltan, Demon-touched Paladin. Zeim's character evolved quite a bit, but retained it's core concept, which I thought was very Bondesque. A killer, serving a noble cause but with scary parallels to the things he kills. His womanising and gambling traits resonated too. I bet no-one else here as ever equated a D&D Paladin to James Bond either? 13th Age sure does strange things to old archetypes.
Nem- I went through what little material i saved from the game and I don't see a game mention... Perhaps you guys who have keys to vault where the archives are kept can dig up the dusty scrolls on this one.
It was a AD&D game using 4e. It was based around the small plantation towns between Sasserine and Cauldron... The Amedio Jungle in Greyhawk.
Cool concept that demanded we all interview to be accepted to play. And the setup had us create characters whose backgrounds were more like normal folks and our skills would translate into adventuring classes... we just weren't adventurers.
My character was a female scout and guide whose job was to lead fancy-pants caravans back and forth from Sasserine on the coast, into the plantation towns were all manner of business was being down... good and bad.
she would become the party's ranger. It didn't last long before Pete had to disappear into RL. I think this was his last DL game too.... but it was a powerful concept that stuck with me and i saved my portion of it. I think MikeD was in this game as well.
I remember the game, Phoenix. I had a female Eladrin Wizard. She lived in the Feywild in a tower in the swamps nearby with her master and used to travel the swamps and towns to gather supplies and components for him. It was short lived, as I recall. We had one encounter where a small village was being attacked and we had to save it before the game stopped.
In fact, this pc was the one I modeled my WDA pc on. WDA was a much more extreme version.
Hey Boss. Cleric's name is Nestaron. Cilmion is a 'nickname' given to him by Priestess followers who either like him too much and have ridiculous expectations or hate him and use it disparagingly, so he really isn't fond of it. Guaranteed trigger just using it.
Quarterstaff works. He's really not a fighter much at all. Breaking down pieces of the cosmic blueprint is bad. Sure one must do what one must do in order to survive and fulfill one's divine purpose but still, it rankles.
For D I could easily swap out The Archmage for the Great Gold Wyrm if that would be interesting for a tie in. Up to the GM, and whatever nefarious plot lines that he has come up with.
well I can dig around in the archives when I get a chance and see if I can find the name.
Just found it ... Blood Tide Rising
And there was also a B5 game run by KenSeg with BTR as the initials. It came after Pete's game which is probably why I remembered that one since I would have archived it after pete's game.
Having been earwigging just off camera, Gypsy slips in and takes a seat, chucking two small containers of Wessex dice to Neil. He always forgets his.
"They are blessed of course."
Sounds more like cursed...
Not quite in her usual get up, she has an untidy mess of streamers in her hair and a balloon tied on somewhere she can't reach that bobs behind her left shoulder. Reaching into her bag she takes out her carved trusty dice box, sheet and various writing materials.
<Looks around for the cats that will surely follow Gypsy in>>
Uh, yeah, where were we?
Ah yes, Blood Tide Rising. Nope, I really don't recall it; I must've missed it somehow.
Now that we're all here, I'm going hand out another player's character sheet to each of you. I want you to read it and do a quick check on the mechanics.
The idea here is threefold.
First, you check each other's work, just like school days!
Second, you also learn more about 13th Age classes.
(Whoever gets MikeD's fighter, for example, might be quite surprised by the depth they've added to that class.)
And third, it gives me time to jam together some notes on the Icon Relationship rolls you're about to make.
Here we go...
<Opens rule book at bookmarked page for extra gravitas>
Looking at your own character sheet, you can see your Icon Relationships on the left, about two thirds up.
Listed is an Icon, a score, and positive/conflicted/negative.
For example, Andrek has a +2 conflicted relationship with the Dwarf Lord, and a +1 positive with the Archmage.
So I'd need to make two separate rolls using the Pre-Game dice roller. The first would look something like this...
Character: Andrek Action Description: Dwarf Lord +2 conflicted Dice Roll: 1d6,1d6 Game Turn: Icon Relationships
You roll 1d6 per point in the relationship, +1, +2 or +3, etc.
<Dumps some dice into the dice roller, rattles it and slams it on the table.>
So there are Andrek's rolls. We're only interested in 5's or 6's.
5's mean the Icon has some kind of deal for you, or some plan they had for you has backfired slightly.
6's are the same as 5's, but the deal is entirely in your favour, or the plan they had has gone completely according to, um, plan.
Andrek gets a 5 for the Dwarf Lord and a 5 for the Archmage. I would have to figure out what that means in the context of this adventure, if Andrek was actually a PC. Since he isn't I'm going to turn the dice roller over to you, while I hand these out.
<Opens plastic wallet to hand out character sheets>
Picks up three d6 and rattles them for a bit before dropping them bones on the table for everyone to see.
"Looks like a 6 for my enemy The Black and another 6 for my ally The Diabolist. Archmage came up as a 2. Should make things interesting and fun. That work? Oh and I am still open to changing one of them to the Great Gold Wyrm should that fit better with your plans."
D The Black, The Diabolist, The Archmage Pandemonium rolled d6,d6,d6 and got 6, 6, 2
Last edited by Pandemonium; Tue 28/04/1500:07 UTC.
Sorry folks, got distracted by my Twitter feed and doing some heavy prep work for a meeting with the suits next week. Nods to Pandemonium as thanks for the sharing of dice.
OK, so Jexric is a human bard. Quite the character. Part Don Juan, Indianna Jones and Robin Hood (although his morals are slightly different than Robin's).
Doesn't get along well with The Blue after he escaped from it's court in Drakkenhall. Has been known to sing a ballad about raising a cup to The Prince who seems occasionally amused by it. And, The Archmage seems to be concerned about his fusion of Cries, Songs and sorcery...
He's a dashing man who would rather wear finery than armor. His pork-pie had seems to be eternally rumpled. Has been known to entertain the maidens with parlor tricks...uhmmm moving on.
He can swear at you in many different languages, should the need arise. You might want to stay out of the way of his bow too.
For some unknown reason, he really enjoys playing his flute standing on one leg with the other leg in a figure four position, resting against his knee.
So why am I looking forward to playing him? Well it's not everyday that you get to play a character, who was swallowed by a dragon and lived to tell about it.
...rolls his dice, getting 4, 5, and 6, for Priestess, High Druid, Crusader respectively.
"I guess the High Druid has some kind of deal for Nestaron, or some plan they had for him has backfired slightly. Fair enough, he's been working as a courier for him for a while, and his parents are still running that bar on the fringes of the Wild Wood, on the road towards the town where the Cathedral of the Priestess is."
Alrighty then...Jexric will attempt to use his Balladeer talent / feat to influence his relationship with the Prince. I stand up and assume the position with air-flute ready to play:
Quote:
Blue swallowed me whole and thought i was done So raise a cup to the Prince who won Without a doubt He used his clout So I tickled it's snout And ol' Blue spit me out
Bowing to GM, I'd like to make a CHA check and use the Balladeer feat. Borrowing a d20 from Pand.
Mods to roll +6 Court Jester, +3 CHA & +1 level. I need a total of 15 to succeed. Correct?
Cha check: pre-game Jexric Tulle Balladeer talent / feat: "A Round for the Prince of Shadows" Khamsin rolled d20+10 and got 15
Assuming the roll succeeds...this would provide a bonus so any 5's rolled for Prince become 6's.
Icon Relations Jexric Tulle Prince of Shadows +2 Positive (5's = 6's), The Blue +1 Negative, Archmage +1 Conflicted Khamsin rolled d6,d6,d6,d6 and got 6, 6, 3, 1
Well lookie there...The prince seems to be amused!
Gypsy, I wonder what connection may or may not exist - or may come into existence - between Tindarien and Nestaron, in their relationships with the High Druid
Khamsin was using his Balladeer talent, one of the Bard's selectable special abilities. It allows him to sing a ballad, complementing one Icon and hazing another. The complemented Icon gets extra Icon dice, the hazed Icon gets a cursed Icon dice, which is like the bearded Spock version of Icon dice.
OK ... so what does the 'cursed Icon Die' do then? Does it subtract from the regular roll ... does it get treated separately in a similar manner i.e. 5 & 6 have results ... or perhaps it is 2 & 1 to have an effect?
OK, first of all I should explain that Icon dice effects are always beneficial.
This makes sense for positive and conflicted relationships, but what about negative relationships. What does a 5 or 6 mean then?
It simply means that someone (possibly your PC) has made a deal, or made plans that benefit you because of your negative Icon relationship.
A 5 might be Black Gugel rebels wanting to hire your swordarm, because your a notorious outlaw and enemy of the Emperor. A 6 might be Duke Voorhetzer making you guest of honour at his banquet, just to tweak the Emperor's nose. Etc.
As you can see, it's beneficial but is a fantastic excuse for the GM to get the PCs into trouble.
A cursed Icon dice is different from the above. It does not give you something beneficial. Au contraire. They indicate action against you from your negative Icon. They trigger on a 1 or 2.
The obvious example would be you roll a 1 and at some point in the game, that encounter with orcs has just been converted to an encounter with Imperial manhunters, out for your blood.
With all Icon rolls, the GM has to determine what they actually mean and weave them all into the fabric of the adventure. That's why a written 13th Age adventure should be bare-bones. Much of it, even plot, will be decided by the PCs Icon rolls.
I am going to step aside. I simply can't carve out enough time to run my own GM games at more than a crawl right now. Real Life isn't letting up any time soon. sorry.
So far so good. It is definitely setup for theatre of the mind, but it has enough details and quirks to be interesting up to this point. Like to see how things play.
Well character creation is very different from the D&D mold. D&D is very much about 'nailing things down' where 13th age seems to be more about 'opening doors' ... if ya see what I mean.
It will be interesting to see how the more 'open ended' character creation works 'at the table'.
I think 13th Age takes some pointers from modern RPG design, in that it makes the players more intrinsically involved in the storytelling.
That'll be the main challenge with this game, replicating that collaborative element, when in fact we aren't really here, sitting around the table, we're actually brains in jars, communicating by text messages sent through the ether.
Seems to me that the biggest difference is that 13th seems a lot less 'deterministic' that older D&D version. The latest is moving more in the direction of 13th age, but not so far.
That could be good for the story telling. Could be more problematic when a player thinks one thing should happen and the GM thinks something different. The players have to be willing ot place a lot more 'faith' in the GM.
5e does offer some additional interaction with the way they used to play. But they have gone the more streamlined approach. This can be good.
In 13th age instead of moving your figures tactically as dnd used to. It is much more open. Bit like 4th there are a lot more options both in and out of combat. So it depends on the flavor you desire.
It really depends on what 'style' of play you like. There are a lot of 'roll' players that want everything laid out in tables and a die roll or two will fix it all. The alternative (and I suspect the majority of players here fit in this category) want more 'leeway' to be creative and tell a story in collaboration with the GM <g>
The former like 'roll' playing the latter 'role' playing <wink>
OK, I'm creating a little prelude for each character. A story told from the GM's perspective, if you will. Your character might remember what happened slightly differently and anecdote is quite brief. You can expand on them and fill in the blanks in your own mind, or incorporate it into your role-play.
For example, there are plenty of reasons why D would be fascinated by Lady Morgen of Rosencliff, the anecdote doesn't really go into it. It's implied that Omen, an emissary of the Diabolist is prompting him to go, expect him to go. It's implied that D might be actively looking for enemies of the Black as potential allies. Etc. We'll leave that up to Pandemonium to sort out.
In some cases, your character might gain a magic item from their Icon roll, if that's acquired during the prelude, I'll note it, otherwise you'll just have to find it during the adventure. I've started with Pandemonium and Khamsin's, that will give you all an idea of what to expect and ask away if you have any questions. I'm nearly done with the rest of you too.
OK, so you can start to see how your Icon rolls refine the story. I'm also trying to show how the benefit you get from a 5 or 6 can be varied.
Even where no 5 or 6 is rolled, like with Seyja, the One Unique Thing can be brought into play to make the adventure more personalised.
OK, so it looks like this adventure might not be about the Orc Lord, but that relationship is still in effect, and there may be points in an adventure where rolling more Icon dice is appropriate.
And as you've no doubt figured out, the Icons don't always represent themselves.
The Great Gold Wyrm doesn't appear to Weston and give him a quest. Rather his adherents, the Order of Averness do. The Diabolist doesn't visit D's rooms in person, to give him information about an enemy of the Black and a presumably useful potion. Her demonic messenger, Omen, does. Etc.
Interestingly, none of the situations, organisations, or NPCs even existed before your Icon rolls. They've been made to measure.
As I say, these preludes are anecdotes, don't take them as gospel. If there's something that doesn't sit right with you, then whoever told me the story must've got it wrong.
Another thing I'm trying to show here is 5's and relationship types.
Nestaron's 5 roll on a positive with the High Druid gets him a follower. A benefit, yes, but can also be a liability. Don't expect him to have immaculate social graces, for example.
Zoltan's 6 roll on a conflicted with the GGW. The Order hires him, payment up front, but it's for a job and they're giving him a minder (Weston).
I am happy and loved mine. I think you pegged him nicely and the situation is intriguing. Lots of questions but all of them involve answers during play. So i am good to go.
So, question on the Icon dice. Considering how it seems to play out why wouldn't you pick a single Icon to have a Positive Relationship with and then give that Icon all 3 points to get a +3 and three dice to try to roll a 5 or 6 with? And then have no Negative Icon relationships?
Next, you said, "This Rosencliff place is probably on the south shore of Sword Point, in the Azure Bay." Geography on the map suggests that it is either 1.) on the =northern= shore of Sword Point ... =OR= ... 2.) it is in Pocket Bay <weg>
Zeim, I can talk to =some= of that from my discussions while I was sorting out my Icon relationships. FWIW, I have all my points in the Great Gold Wyrm. We talked about the pros and cons of being so 'one dimensional'. I was real close to taking a second, but could not convince myself that ... at least of the ones on the initial list ... any of the others 'spoke' to a part of Weston. If there had been a 'Tymora' like Icon, I would likely have taken a point in that one because the world is so ... random ... or something like that <g>
Finally, once we have finished up our 'assignments', where do we post or send them?
Yes, absolutely right, MikeD. I meant on the south shore of Azure Bay, which is indeed the north shore of Sword Point. I'll edit the above statement.
Btw, the Dragon Empire is actually quite small. About the size of the Habsburg Empire, so we're not talking Rome or China here.
And Zeim, as MikeD said it's all about whatever you want for your character.
Mechanically, you're just as likely to get a boon by taking one Icon at pos 3, as you are taking a variety. The big difference is what you want to inject into the story.
For example, often players like having at least a 1 neg Icon, so they always have a chance of tweaking the nose of their enemy (whilst gaining from it).
Yes, that's sado-masochistic in a manner of speaking, but still a lot of fun.
As for your checking of the character sheets, send those to my email address. i.e., My user name @leanerminds.com.
Mildly curious as to whether Tindarion and Nestaron just met in the course of this most recent unfortunate event with the miners and the King's men. Gypsy, your thoughts? GM, did you have ideas about this? We can always back-fill of course, but wanted to figure out the right tone to set with my traveling companion...
Nope. The specifics are entirely up to you guys. Did they participate in the battle? How implicit they were in the revolt? How tight they are now? I have no idea... If that helps!
The orium mine would have been very important though. It made the island's ruling elite extremely rich, whilst simultaneously destroying the local environment, quality of life and future prospects of the common folk, as explained in the anecdote.
However, what is orium? We'll say its a potent ingredient in magical potions, oils and runes.
Exeter, there was a specific digital painting that inspired the Iron Skull.
And since it is up to you, there is certainly 'precedent' ... in anime, movies, comics and books ... that 'allow' a 'mere construct' to rebel against it's creators. For example, there are a couple of great movies based on the Frankenstein myth. One is "I Frankenstein" where the monster ends up having more of a conscience than any of the other so called 'heroes'. I cannot recall the title of the other, but it revolves around an 'enforcer' for the Catholic church hunting vampires. He runs into the monster ... who the evil vampires want to 'abuse' to infuse life into their offspring. He is a good person as well. Both are movies worth watching if you like that sort of thing <g>
It is listed in the core rule book as well. I assumed the GM wanted to use them in some other way. In core they are a part of the dwarf race. But no reason why one couldn't have a forgeborn from other races too.
There were a couple of races not listed in the Game Forum PC Creation thread, such as Draconic, Forgeborn, Gearforged, Aasimar,and Tiefling. The DM offered me a Tiefling because of my background, but the others may be reserved for NPCs.
Dragonspawn, Aasimar, Forgeborn and Tiefling are in the 13th Age rule book as optional races. I wanted more of an old school flavour though, so ruled them out...
Since we didn't get any dwarves, half-orcs, halflings or gnomes though, I decided to spice things up by offering Zeim tiefling for his character, since it suited the concept more than wood elf.
Right, I'm working through everyone's character sheets, filling the blanks and checking the mechanics. So far I think everyone's had a few small corrections, as you'd expect, but nothing worth mentioning. Nothing that alters your concepts or how you play 'em, put it that way.
I've still got Gypsy, Khamsin and Owain's to do, and that will be the final pre-flight checks done.
Did anyone find anything particularly unexpected or interesting about their anecdote btw. If I know what hooks engage you the most, that's a greater chance of me following them up.
Will you let us know what the corrections were? I know I, for one, spent quite a bit of time cross-referencing the rules to try to hit everything properly. Like to know what I missed, if anything.
As for Zoltan's opening. Very nice. Went along the lines I expected, other than missing the flirting with "Miss Moneypenny" <g>.
Zeim. I haven't kept a changelog, but I'll be able to give you the gist of the corrections. As for Miss Coppercoin, I added a little extra implied impropriety at the end for you.
Pandemonium. Yes, I think D would have quite a journey of discovery ahead of him in a campaign! I think the Diabolist is also a fascinating Icon, since she consorts with demons, but believes they are playthings, slaves and servants, and is strongly opposed to the demon invasion. Does that make her a good kind of bad. (Well, unless you're a demon.)
Weston will certainly have an interesting ride-along with Zoltan, I think MikeD. Hopefully there's some chemistry and they influence each other in interesting and unexpected ways.
And Exeter, you've done it now. One MikeD-style montage coming up!!
Owain, I prefer to build relationships in game so let's say they noticed each other join in the battle on the same side. And we have our dwarf contact in common!
Neil, I was about to ask what Orium is but you answered that. I assume it is quite valuable? Only asking so I know how much care I would exercise looking after it.
OK, so I decided it'd be easier to edit them later if I kept them separate, so here they are...
Have a look, and if you have any questions, go ahead and ask here.
In general I've filled in the blanks, corrected stats and cleaned things up for you as much as possible.
For example, it's assumed that you have equipment to do whatever you do as defined in your background. So we don't need to worry about whether PCs can afford a 10-foot pole, or rope, etc.
I have noted on the goodies you gained from the prelude though.
Any changes that stood out to me?
D. Master Assassin background to Master Villain. I'd been trying to address your concern about the overlap between Thief and Master Assassin. Came up with Master Villain.
Jexric. Nothing that I can recall.
Nestaron. I think you had one feat too many? Added your quarterstaff and some armour too.
Seyja. Nothing that I can recall.
Tindarien. Changed Treasure Hunter to Relic Hunter, to capitalise on the Arcane Heritage, which applies up to +2 to a suitably arcane background (to a max of +5).
Weston. Filled in a lot of blanks. That's about it.
Zoltan, I think the only major change for you was removing the Con bonus from being a wood elf. Removed Survival +1 and added to Tracker, iirc. (To be an expert tracker you have to be an expert outdoorsman, so I think this has it covered.)
Neal - Sending you a PM. I believe the changes made are not correct (although partially my own fault). Explanation in the new sheet sent via e-mail. Oh, forgot to add the +25gp to the new sheet.
I note you took out thief strike. The way i read it... got the ability regardless of the requirements. Does this not mean now? Or does the 3rd level requirement still stand even in light of not needed?
Not a big deal just trying to understand the verbage in the rules.
Yeah, I can see Nestaron's sheet np. Checked it out on my smartphone in Drive PDF, np, but then in Quickoffice, and it was mostly blank. So I suspect which PDF reader you're using must have something to do with it.
Updated Zeim's character sheet then.
Pandemonium. You can pick up Thief Strike at 3rd level, or as a Thievery feat. i.e., It doesn't come with Thievery as stanard, you have to buy the feat.
Oh, so as one of the four he purchased. So like instead of Sure Cut. Hmm will have to think on it, if it is available. That makes more sense as one of this four powers.
Pandemonium. Yes, feats are a careful choice in 13th Age, because you don't get many of them and they can beef up your existing powers quite substantially. I do like how they've made everything more desirable in 13th Age. You have a real choice. (Sure, it makes choosing difficult, but that's got to be a good thing.)
Hi Neil, Here is my confusion from page 128 in the core book, under Thievery which is a Talent he took...
Adventurer Feat: Regardless of your level, you gain the bonus power thief ’s strike (see page 130) in addition to your normal number of powers.
I note the word Feat, yet... further on.. on page 130 listed under 3rd level powers... Thief’s Strike Note: This is a bonus 3rd level power for rogues with the Thievery talent; other rogues can choose it if they like. Melee attack At-Will Target: One enemy Attack: Dexterity + Level vs. PD Hit: Half of WEAPON + Dexterity damage (including Sneak Attack damage if any), and roll a normal save. If you succeed, you can pickpocket an item from the target that they are not holding. (If you roll 16+, the target doesn’t realize you pickpocketed them.) Miss: —
So although the word Feat is used in on spot, Powers are used in multiple spots. Is there an errata someplace I can read a clarification?
Honestly it really isn't a big deal. I don't see him using it all that often. But if it is a bonus, then obviously he will take it. If not, the sheet stands as is. Just color me confused.
Y'know, Exeter, I don't think I've ever run a training montage in a game before... I may have to squeeze one into HHE some how. Definitely if the character's level up.
Pandemonium. The description of Thievery on Pelgrane Press's wiki omits the bumph, and just gives you a point-by-point breakdown.
You know, if you combined all those together you'd have a sharknado!
But um, yeah, they should be a small creature. It makes no difference per se, so whatever you think fits.
I guess he'd want something that he could stuff in a bag or pouch, for when he needs to get athletic. But also something that would be at ease and useful underground, for when he's dungeoneering.
I'm thinking cat, rat, bat, polecat? Anyone else have any ideas?
So we shouldn't expect to see a high elf sorceror with a Pomeranian in his handbag then?
You can keep a snake in your trousers as well (no joke intended for those whose minds just went there), but even better if you get a viper you can keep it in your money pouch. Makes a nice anti-theft mechanism. <g>
If you have a mechanics specific action you want to take, you can explain it in square brackets at the foot of your post. Otherwise I'll assume a standard attack, depending on what your best available standard attack is.
Meanwhile, I've posted the first round and included the mechanics notes because these demonstrate a few important things about 13th Age.
1. Even 1st level characters are pretty awesome. 2. A critical doubles your total damage. Boom! Zombies take triple damage from criticals! Zoltan rolled a natural 20 on his Smite Evil and ended up doing 60 damage to the zombie leader in one fell blow. 3. Mooks have a hit point pool. Every 7 damage kills another pathetic zombie. So Seyja, in a barbarian rage, was able to crit for triple damage and take out 5 pathetic zombies in her rampaging attack. Traditionally, that would just be extreme overkill on one pathetic zombie. 4. When a PC misses with their favoured attack, they still do damage. Many abilities boost this miss damage. 5. Finally, fun mechanics. When a zombie rolls naturally high on its attack roll, it does extra damage to its foe, and itself!
So in one round, 9 1st level baddies taken out! Not bad! And so ends my brief homage to Army of Darkness.
Hmmm ... I have to say that from what I remember of Army of Darkness, none of the monsters could be considered 'mooks', otherwise ... thanks for the awesome discussion on how that all worked. Helps a lot!
The army of the dead was all mook, I'd say, Mike. Except for Evil Ash and Evil Sheila. See the Oldsmobile battle scene. Ah, love that film!
So yes, anyway, you're all noticing how 13th Age is a lot more interactive for the player, mechanically speaking. Plenty of dynamic effects that are triggered by certain conditions, like the Escalation Die, odds and evens, staggered condition (i.e., below half hit points). Effects that can interupt.
This creates the obvious problem in a message game, in that if I wait for each player to analyse each roll I make, we will be here a long long, long long long time.
What will we do, how will we ever cope?
I'm using two simple rules ("More guidelines really!").
1. Player intent. Describe what your PC intentions are. Some in-character, some out-of-character. [I prefer square brackets for ooc.]
2. The second pass. After I've resolved a round, I give it a second pass. This allows me to pick out triggers and interupts.
In the case of our demo round against the zombies, there were none left standing by the end of the round, and no-one had used any consumables, hit points lost weren't an issue, and so the first pass stood as it was.
Thanks for taking JT on for the first combat! I'm feeling much better.
For the group, just so you know, I have no knowledge or talent for music. As a matter of fact I can't carry a tune in a bucket with instructions...so if I make a faux pas when posting anything relating to music, feel free to hassle me around the table
Now then, next session we'll be in Rosencliff and starting the adventure proper.
However, I'm partying hard in Ibiza for the next week and won't be back in town until Tuesday the 2nd. So in the meantime, I might get you developing your backstory.
Have fun Neil! Please note I am away next week and the week after in Devon on a bridge holiday and am unlikely to have any time for background. I'll see what I can do before I go but no promises.
I hope you enjoyed the music, btw. It's not a great rip of John Dreamer's Becoming A Legend, but it's decent enough to listen to.
So, while I'm away, you can play out some Tarantino-esque short scenes, where background characters can discuss the PCs and build up their legend, for better or worse.
Try to wrap them up by next Sunday, but if you'd rather take your time, no problem either. (And of course, if you're short on time, c'est la vie, just let us know and we'll be as cool as cucumbers.)
We're developing the back story using these short scenes, so there's no homework as such. Obviously feel free to talk to each other about your scenes, it makes sense to.
Thanks Mike. Was a good night, though some orc got bottled by his girlfriend behind me. I got splashed, so the place gave me drinks on the house.
Cloudy today, so heading into Ibiza Old Town to buy my pa a birthday present. Champagne Spray Party at Ocean Beach Club later. And thanks for the posting, guys, good pool-side reading!
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