ICON Issue 2

The latest issue of ICON fanzine is now available, featuring work from +Mike Shea +Venger Satanis +Bri Anderson +Brian Rodriguez and +ASH LAW

You can grab it here and no doubt it will be available over at http://13thage.org/ before too long, i'll also be submitting it to DriveThruRPG, expect that in a day or two.

If you re considering submitting an article, or have wondered what your words would look like in digital print - get in touch with me : david@8bitfactory.co.uk

Don't forget to share and enjoy.

This room contains..

My group has kind of moved into theatre of the mind play over the last 6 months, mainly as a logistical thing to help with changing playing areas. Its had a nice effect on how we play, for me its easier to create stuff - i've changed the way i structure my thinking a little and its had subtle knock on effects in other areas.

We've also very recently taken our first stab at Fate Accelerated. We enjoyed it a lot, although its not replacing 13A as our regular fantasy engine. It has got some really cool mechanical stuff in it - i've been thinking about using them as a sort of creative brainstorming exercise. I also read a real interesting post by someone talking about how stringing the incongruous random elements of OSR encounter design together is the fun part so how do those two ideas collide?

It goes like this :

This room contains Adversary with Roleplay Opportunity doing Activity

So Adversary could be rolled of a random table, maybe i'll create one for each creature group - undead, greenskins etc. None should definitely be option here. Sample Table : 

1. No Creatures
2. Signs of recent Habitation, Roll again to determine what.
3. 2 Wights
4. 6 Zombie Peasants 
5. Vampire Spawn Assassin
6. 4 of the Necromancers Henchmen and 2 Mercenaries.

Roleplay Opportunitys' are things like Interesting Loot (Indecipherable scrolls, Ancient artefacts etc) NPC's (Slaves, Emissaries from rival factions) Dungeon Events (Cave-in, Extreme Temperatures) Interesting Features (Pools of Ooze, Altars etc)

1. Carved wooden horse.
2. Emissary from rival faction.
3. Ancient Scroll written with gold leaf.
4. Partial Collapse.
5. Dark Altar to a forgotten god.
6. Argumentative brain in jar.

And finally Activity is a reason for being in room, you could create a table for loads of broad groups should you need creatures with different motives eg, Military Actions, Leisure Activities, Acquiring Knowledge and Resource gathering.

1. Fighting over food.
2. Relaxing with mind bending intoxicants.
3. Asking lots of obscure questions.
4. Digging up the floor.
5. Enacting corporal punishment.
6. Concocting a noxious fumed broth.

So random rolls 4, 1, 6. My room has Zombie Peasants and a Carved wooden horse concocting a noxious broth. Hmm. So the Zombies are in the Wooden horse - having been suffocated by a foul alchemical fire lit in the horses mouth. 

6, 3, 2. A group of the Necromancers henchmen sit in a circle all taking turns to hold an ancient scroll written in goldleaf, after reading the scroll for a time they become euphoric and fall into an intoxicated haze for a period. 

Its obviously the last cog in this machine that will provide the real creative stretch, so this is where you'll be able to easily adjust tone of the encounters, the more offbeat and weird you go with these the greater the jump will be to connect the dots. If you roll No creatures you might ask whats the point rolling on the activity? I think its a way of looking out the box. No creatures? Why? Where did they go and why is that related to the Roleplay Opportunity.

The other last thing if your going to adopt this technique, write all of these independently of each other. Wait a couple of days between writing some of pick greatly different overtones and swap them around. I'll post up some of mine i've written for my upcoming game after we play - don't want my players coming across spoilers.

Out of Bullet Points

I've been thinking alot recently about how I structure my prep work for my weekly meatspace game, using a classic 3 Act format, with loose detail s given in bullet points i'm able to quickly map the intended course of the adventure. The loose structure relies on improv to flesh it out at the table, but thats ok - it gives me a skeleton to riff off and gently exercises the part of my brain that deals with quick thinking. A big plus is that if the players derail, your plot is flexible enough to adapt.

It pretty much went according to plan, some changes but the players enjoyed it, it would be interesting to run the adventure again - change a few dials and see how it plays differently.

Here's how I wrote up the last 3 sessions:

Act 1

Present the Threat

Scene1

Arrival at tower

• Merchants carrying exotic overland goods, large crowd growing outside shut gates.
• Rumours of one brother acting strangely after returning from an adventuring trip
• After a time the Speaking face will sound the alarm, the doors will bursts open unleashing swarms of clockwork pirates.
• If un-reacted to the genies guards begin to lose and merchant will urge anyone with strength to help.

Scene2

Fight to the Top

• Several combat encounters up the tower

Scene3

The Brother Plight

• Two of the genie's are lying unconscious in their rooms, under a demonic curse.
• Merchants will know where the Pirates came from, and why its important that whatever affects the brothers be stopped, them re-united and made well (they are the only ones who can open the gates to the overmarch)

Act 2

Ramp Up The Tension

Scene1

Flight to Red Roost

• The genies have a roost of Hippogryphs
• Red Roost must be navigated to.
• Pirates patrols can be avoided or tackled 
• the final patrol is at sunset.

Scene2

Finding a Way Inside

• Gain entry to the Red Roost fortes via stealth or strength, either skill challenges or combat encounters.

Scene3

Showdown with Red

• Djinn has glamour cast upon him, he's really demon
• Fight with the 3rd demon-bound clone of brother
• A large talisman will open a pocket dimension to the Abyss.

Act 3 

Finale and onwards

Scene1

Through the Portal

• Search the Demense
• Encounter weird Abyssal entities
• Possible chance of combat encounters.

Scene2

Showdown

• Fight with Arch-Demon guarding the 3rd Brother
• Brother kept in purpqle energy cage

Scene3

Back to the Tower

• When free'd the brother will teleport everyone back to the tower and revive his brothers, Open the gate to the overmarch.

Tracking magic item 'quirks'

Whilst I really do appreciate a magic item can provide an excellent spring board for interesting roleplay I often find that they inevitably take a back seat in the story or are forgotten completely. So i'm thinking of a way to enhance the experience at my table - Im looking at giving each magic item (that is powerful enough to have a personality and quirks) a requirement that must be satisfied in order for the item to function. I'll do it per session, not fixed to any in game time scales, so if the requirement isnt met this session - you wont get benefit from its Effect next session. I like to keep it simple.

So for example:

Ragga's Shinsplitter, Ancestral Orcish Warblade
+1 Light Melee Weapon
Effect: When Staggered any recovery dice results of 1 may be rerolled. 
Requirement: An enemy must be slain in single combat.

Thats a fairly simple requirement built around a weapon (and accompanying story) that exists in my home campaign - but you can really start to have fun with the requirements, creating obstacles and challenges for players. What about magic items whose requirements oppose each other? Im not suggesting that this type of resource juggling should become a theme however, just an interesting distraction.

When building a requirement look to the items personality or backstory, and if there isn't either of those elements you could work in reverse. Choose an interesting and fun requirement and build a story from it. And remember your looking to encourage roleplaying and story generation, so kill an enemy in combat wont be all that fun. If you need to have a 'simple' requirement like this, at least give it a twist.

Here are some that come to mind

"A secret must be stolen"
"The player must be noticed"
"An enemy must become a friend"
"The item must bask in true sorrow"

Until next time.

The Bitterstone Dwarves

On G+ +Chad Rose wrote:

How much would the Dwarves charge folks wanting to use the Undermarch, the underworld trade route, for travel between Anvil and Forge? I mean, they have maintenance and security to think about after all and that ain't cheap.

This got me to thinking, not really about how much - but to whom you would pay, and why. I've reposted my thoughts here so they more permanent and accessible.

The Bitterstone Dwarves

The dwarves of the Bitterstone clan have controlled the majority of the Undermarch passage for nearly 500 years. The rights to levy the travellers on the inhospitable and forlorn route was gifted to them by the Dwarf King, seen by many as an act of punishment for Oaths long broken, a punishment because, as every dwarf knows, those who would make a living from taxation and at the expense of others labour are amongst the lowest of dwarven society. And no dwarf has ever, or ever would, dare refuse a gift from the Dwarven King.

The Bitterstones have grown rich by burdening a heavy toll on those who would attempt to travel through the Undermarch, it has has brought them little discernible comfort however, as other clans are loathe to openly ally or trade with 'Coin Crows' let alone those who do it with such fervour and greed.

And so they have grown angry and resentful, rich in purse yet poor in soul, ostracised from their kin and perpetually consumed by a cycle of taxation and hunting those who would attempt to avoid their tolls - of which there is no short supply. In fact that such a volume of people are willing to risk death or worse, in order to avoid the draconian overlook of the Bitterstones has prompted an explosion in people daring enough to guide the poor - or those too miserly to pay the Bitterstone's their due through the warren like passages that make up the  Undermarch.

Icon - Release Schedule

Just for clarity and everyone who has requested to submit content here is the intended release schedule for Icon. I've also included submission deadlines for the releases, there's essentially a week before release where i'll stop including articles and run them in the following month - giving me enough time to finalise and layout the pages.

1st of May Issue
Submissions deadline 24th April

1st of June Issue

Submissions deadline 25th May

1st July Issue

Submissions deadline4 24th June

Interested in submitting? email david@8bitfactory.co.uk

Icon - A 13th Age Fanzine

So after some planning, talking it over with people and tentatively proposing the idea i'm finally at a stage where I can make an 'official' announcement. I'll take a moment to talk about some of the decisions i've made about the 'zine and why.

First of, I guess - the project is a go. 

Im going with a slightly modified APA or Amateur Press Association model for the 'zine. You can read more about that here. But basically i'll act as a main editor / producer that will compile submissions from readers and writers into a nicely laid out magazine.

The traditional APA model charges a fee for submission and a free copy, but because this will be a digital pdf there are no inherent costs my end to produce the finished magazine, so the final thing can happily remain free. There are also a few other things that are great about this model, especially as were now in a digital age - easy distribution, tools to create a high quality product, easy lines of communication to advance ideas and content. All of those factors should be helpful in keeping the project alive and healthy.

The exact opposite is the major problem I see with this model, if there is no interest - it will wither and die, that sounds gloomy but I'm just being a realist. So in order to make it successful it will require the support of many people, even if they just read and share.

The next decision to talk about is the name, i've gone with Icon. There were some awesome suggestions, a favourite was 13th Sage. I decided against this for a couple of reasons even though I thought it was great, for one its close to the copyrighted name of the game and I don't want to infringe on anything. Also having a name that doesn't explicitly lean on another thing for context lets the product grow and change, without feeling odd or unconnected to its namesake.

So where are we with the project?

I've already done the following : created an logo (above) built page layouts, chosen a cover. So were in a strong place to start submitting and compiling work. I've put together some submission guidelines, its nothing crazy but it is worth a read.

So how do we move forward? 

Share, Submit and Read. The more people that know about the project the more likely they are to read or submit. Likewise in a venn diagram kinda way, the more people that read - the more likely it is they will share and submit. So tell everyone you know, think of a cool idea - write about it and send it to me, then read it in digital print the next month.

Im aiming for an initial run on the 1st of May, we'll see how things go.

Thanks for taking the time to read the post, if you want to get in touch with submissions or questions email david@8bitfactory.co.uk - i'll be contacting people who have expressed and interest over the coming days.

'Til next time.

- David

A 13th Age Fanzine..

So recently on G+ a conversation was had about creating a community driven fanzine for the indie RPG 13th Age. The purpose of this blog post is to act a public announcement and launching point for the Fanzine, and a place to link to through to for forums, social media and threads

So heres a quick outline of where the project is at:

I'll be acting primarily as a producer/editor and content creation where necessary. Because of my day job (Creative Designer) I'm in a good position to be able to A) create an approach to the project that will keep it sustainable and B) pull together the final product with pay layouts, art and distribution etc.

Here's what I'm thinking at the moment :

• Will publish monthly at first, then looking to change based on it production schedule and demand.
• Community contribution, articles should be written by the 13A community and readership of the 'zine.
• Content guidelines should be broad, cover a lot of different stuff as long as the ideas are good.

A let me add, this isn't set in stone - one of the purposes of this post is to get people involved and have an opinion - it would be great to get something started that drives itself with people reading and submitting content, producing a 'creative conversation' - akin to the old HP Lovecraft letter writing buddies, but in a platform thats accessible to anyone.

So what do we need? A Name and Content, the first one already has a popular suggestion, The 13th Sage. I like the fact that the name can become a character in itself - like the White Dwarf, and of course there's a terrible pun in there. Depends on how you look at it.

Content relies to an extent on submissions and request from the community. So please get in touch if either you want to write something or want something written. I'll be on hand to create some stuff, however I won't be creating all the content because otherwise it would be no more than what I already do with this blog, I want everyone to get involved where they can.

: If you want to submit content, please fire me an email : david@8bitfactory.co.uk :

Erull Partha Bann

Earlier in the week +Rob Bush wrote :

So, at the end of the Crown of the Lich King adventure, my players kind-of-sort-of killed the Elf Queen, and were arrested in a cliffhangery ending....we'll be coming back to pick up with these characters in a few weeks, and I'll be starting with them languishing in the late Elf Queen's dungeons.So, what do the dungeons of the Elven Court look like to you?

 I tried to come up with something a little bit different (I was thinking of Han Solo's Carbonite at the time) and came up with the following, Its stuck with me so I'm posting here so I can come back to it at a later date if I choose.

Erull Partha Bann

All the Elf queens prisoners are kept in the "Erull Partha Bann" (literal translation - garden of castigation). Each prisoner is forced to drink a admixture containing the tears of the Elf Queen, doing so puts the drinker in both a deep, unending slumber and inflicts almost unbearable pain upon them.

There are methods of escape from the garden but only through hidden passageways contained in the mind of the warden, a fey being tasked with keeping the prison.

After prolonged periods of time in the garden the minds and personalities of its inhabitants begin to corrode, becoming warped and strange. Several factions of prisoners have wrestled control of various areas away from the warden, their corrupting influence has begin to shape the garden into reflections of their inter turmoil.

Agents of the Elf Queen are actively seeking a solution to this problem, for if the corruption spreads much further there is a chance the warden himself may become corrupted, and in turn spread to other Fey beings.

"The players are there to keep the referee amused. If they don’t, he will find a way to make it entertaining."

-Dave Arneson.

The players have just spent 15 minutes discussing the minutia of an ill-fated scheme, and you're like "oh come on already!' choose or make them roll a relation ship die to move the game on - here's some Icon related ideas, as you use them think of new ones for next time.

Liche King

•  A spectral apparition hints at danger.
•  You sense an evil magic user scrying your thoughts.
•  Gravefrost spreads across every surface.
•  The dead rise.
•  A talking crow brings ill news.
•  The place they're in sinks into the shadow fell.

Archmage

• An influx of magical energy permeates through the area, re-organising its layout.
• The doors and exits are transformed into planar portals.
• Surplus magical energy ignites creating swarms of fire elementals.
• The veil of night is pulled across the world.
• A wizard reeling from smoking wounds collapses in front of the players.
• A living spell is born, angry and confused.

Emperor

• Two powerful dragons duel in the sky, the loser tumbling out of sight.
• An empire courtier appears, badly wounded and almost unconcious.
• A passing bureaucrat and his retinue demands the characters show him reverence.
• A pair of loud overweight squabbling nobles can be heard as their disagreement turns physical.
• The secret police mistake a Character as a wanted enemy of the state.
• Two dozen guards begin breaking down doors and begin hurriedly searching for something.

Prince of Shadows

• Whispering and the rough sounds of a struggle can be heard coming from a storm drain.
• An amiable assassin mistakes a Character for his mark, and attempts to carry out the contract.
• An influx of cheap golden lotus seeds floods the market, causing gangs to fight bitterly over its control.
• The characters are pick-pocketed, only to find the thief face down dead.
• A beautiful daughter of a wealthy merchant seeks sanctuary in the underworld.
• Swarms of rats begin to pour out from every drain, hole and conceivable space.

Orc Lord

• An eclipse occurs, signalling an Orcish festival of bloodshed.
• Several wildmen encounter the characters whilst hunting.
• The savage tattoo of tribal drumming is noticed and gets louder and louder.
• A shaman appears to the characters in his spirit form seeking their council.
• Smoke rises on the horizon, an orcish warparty has sacked a local settlement
• The players find a hideous totem laden with fresh sacrifices.

Priestess

• The players are heckled and jeered for being blasphemers and non believers.
• Road-weary and Pilgrims pass by offering alms and prayers to the faithful in need.
• A distant bell tolls, announcing a religious period of atonement.
• A holy spirit gives visitation judging all present.
• The characters find a truly ancient text of verses, hymns and prayers trapped within is a disquieted soul.
• Heavy rain and a flood of biblical proportions threatens to sweep the land clean.

Diabolist

• A small, fat demon, falls from its hiding spot – it appears to have been following the characters for some time.
• The heavy influence of the far realms begins to twist and bend space and the laws of physics.
• A small child appears, with a deep and guttural voice it intones a dire warning, pointing at a character.
• Droning and unintelligible speech of several voices fills the air, ever rising in volume.
• An unholy altar bursts through the earth surface, faint chaotic runes let of an eery glow.
• All inanimate objects suddenly begin to laugh and dance wickedly, only to stop a quickly as they began.

Dwarven King

• Someone calls attention to the fact that all the players coinage is part of an ancient dwarven hoard.
• A book of grudges is produced, one of the characters ancestors is in it.
• The hubbub of angry striking miners can be heard, demanding better pay and greater share of wealth.
• The dwarven masonry begins to crack and crumble, so much for a lifetime guarantee.
• Everyone is required to take part in a long and difficult drinking game, lest someone be deeply offended.
• Someone called someone else's honour into question, and no one leaves until the culprit is found.

The Three

• Two volcanic dragons eggs tumble from a rocky slope, resting at the characters feet.
• A mated pair of Chromatic dragons demand the local populace give up the PC's
• Chromatic dragons underlings fight a fleeing young half breed dragon with exotic magical apparatus.
• A small golden box, with delicate inlaid dragons falls from a rapidly moving cart amongst a busy throng. 
• Twinned magical mirrors reveal a glimpse into a Chromatic dragons conversation with his vassal.
• A pugnacious and badly wounded adventuring party seek aid, they say their comrades have been slain by dragons.

Gold Wyrm

• A gravely wounded Metallic dragon has polymorphed itself into a coin that one of the PC's in possession of.
• In the distant skies the glinting of hundreds of metallic dragons, convening an ancient wyrm court can be seen.
• The PC's overhear the drunken boasting of thieves claiming to have raided a Paladium Dragons hoard.
• Worshippers of the Gold Wyrm clog the streets, chanting and ringing bells.
• A young metallic dragons seeks out an audience among the PC's hoping to inspire both fear and admiration.
• Through a small land slide the ruins of an ancient Wyrm bastion are partly revealed.

Crusader

• The local witch finder is asking questions about the PC's and their associates.
• A rusted iron gibbot, its most recent occupant hold a delicate piece of parchment in a withered fist.
• Some haphazard thieves flee in a state of panic and terror, a masked vigilante hunts them.
• A well respected, yet secretly evil local sorcerer is found dead much to the outrage of the locals.
• The brash sounds of labourers can be heard, they appear to be erecting a wooden stage, complete with trapdoor.
• Several manic agitators begin stirring up resentment and hatred in plaza nearby.

Elf Queen

• Members of the Fey court come across the PC's during the courts progression.
• A raven appears with a delicately written summons, calling PC's to give evidence at the Fey court.
• Elven supporters end up worse for wear after a heated encounter with another icons followers/agents.
• The PC's discover a secret door in a tree, leading to an ancient barrow beneath the earth.
• By public proclamation an elven blade singer stands accused of unearthly crimes, and a great bounty is set upon his head.
• The players find a rare seed from a Life Tree.

As you can see some if not most of these refer to intentionally vague or implied pieces of story/game lore. The purpose is to make them your own, and weave them into whatever story you've got going on - or to help kick start a new romp.

Enjoy - and if you have any more, please post them into the comments i'll happily update this post with them.

Game Notes - Syri

In these posts I'll explore various people, places and information I've had need of preparing for my homebrew campaign, one that takes place on the RimWorld a partially group built setting. Im doing for my own reference, but feel free to use it as you like.

Syri

Total pop: 2051
Humans: 1231
Elves: 410
Half Elves: 205
Dwarves: 98
Halflings: 108
Full Time Guards: 21
Clergy: 26

Inns: Babes Roost, Markeeve's Place
Taprooms: Dead Harpy, Clever Wanderer, Greedy Demon, Emperors Arms.

Key features

• Partial foundations on a rock outcropping by the banks of the Jade river.
• Protected against the encroaching shifting sands. 
• Historically important for trade with a levy on all boats travelling through, thriving market.
• Provides Stone from local quarries, used in all major Empire building works.
• Fully manned garrison and centre of local security.

Iconic Heralds

High Druid - Sinir Il-Ithellen Chief among the Krao
Emperor - Baron Obo Morrog,
Orc Lord - Ugrosh the Exile
Priestess - High Cleric Estlin Amberhand
Liche King - Amyr Hajan, member of the Gilded Brotherhood

Rumors and Events

• A lost grove in the Feywild holds clues to the path to the Crown.
• Prominent members of the Krao are detained under strict blasphemy charges.
• Baron Obo succumbs to a fit of madness.
• A member of the White Hearts makes an attempt on the Barons life.
• The savage hill tribes broker a cease in hostilities with each other.
• The shaman Gro'Vaak attempts to travel through the Feywild
• An agitator seeks to stir up religious hatred 
• A few members of the clergy are revealed to be corrupt.
• A powerful member of the Gilded Brotherhood receives possession of an Armoured Arm.
• The shifting sands begin washing up ancient relics.

In Town Today

• 35 Mercenaries and Captain.
• Travelling Minstrels and Poets.
• Members of the Secret Police.
• A gang of hardline religious dissidents.
• Striking angry workers.
• A band of child pickpockets
• Mimes.
• Duelling Aristocracy.
• Exotic trade goods from the South.
• Travelling Slavers.
• A Bronze Dragon and a wizard.

Visual Inspiration

Using Relationship Dice to shape your Campaign

Something I've wanted to talk about for a while is the way I use Relationship Dice and Icons in my ongoing campaign, Ive spoken to people on G+ about how its used, and now the rules have been out for a long while I think our group has finally had time to properly road test - and modify things to the way we like to play.

The 13A core book suggest rolling relationship dice at the start and during the game to generate drama and action, this is great - it works really well for one off's or for games that run only a handful of times. However I know my regular players in my campaigns felt the mechanic too forced, the action of rolling a dice broke the immersion - prescribed action they called it, things weren't just happening in the world, we are having to make a special roll to see what was happening.

I really like the Icons, they're a big focus of the rule system so I felt it would be a real shame to cut them, I turned to the core book for advice and wasn't surprised that the excellent conversational and options based approach to game design came up trumps, I opted to start rolling the Dice at the end of the session. This is great if your group isn't good at or doesn't care for improv, and in our case didn't like the intrusive/prescriptive nature of the rolls at the start/during the game.

So every week at the end of the session (or midweek over a Facebook chat window) my players roll their d6's - crossing their fingers and hoping for a 6. All the Icons are represented by their agents in the world, so no matter what's rolled - there's an NPC or organisation somewhere waiting to act.

I'll have these Organisation and NPC's worked out with a Campaign goal, What they want to achieve over the life of the campaign and a number of steps they must take in order to achieve that goal. Then no matter who is chosen the act i've got an idea of what they want to do and based on where the story's join i can decide (often loosely) what they'll do to make it happen.

Sometimes more relationship dice rolls crop up than there is feasible time/focus to deal with. I'll often resolve with the Icon or his agents making discreet actions designed not to draw any attention, yet hopefully render consequences later down the road.

The campaign has been running since August '13, and we've been using this method for the majority and so far my players feel as engaged and present in the ongoing story as they have for a very long while - which is great.

If you want more advice on bending the Relationship dice and Icons to your story needs I highly recommend dealing Blood & Lightning (the adventure from the core book) and Tales of the 13th Age (hit up +ASH LAW on G+) I also recommend the Dungeon World core book for advice on organising your NPC's and Organisations.

D20 Icons - Ettercap

Each week I'll be taking a crack at converting some of the most iconic d20 monsters that, for one reason or another didn't appear in the awesome 13th Age Core rulebook. This week - the Ettercap.

Ettercap

Level 3 (Medium Humanoid Arachnid)
Init: +7
HP: 40 AC: 20 PD: 18  MD: 16

Entangling Claws : +8 vs. AC (2 attacks) - 6 damage, Natural 11+ Hit: Target is stuck (save ends)

Venomous Strike : If an Ettercap attacks a target that is stuck it has +2 to attack and also change Entangling Claws effect to "deal 7 ongoing poison damage".

Spider Senses : Roll twice when checking for any surprise or initiative checks.

: If you like this monster check out the other Iconic classic D&D monsters I've converted here :

D20 Icons - Death Knight

Each week I'll be taking a crack at converting some of the most iconic d20 monsters that, for one reason or another didn't appear in the awesome 13th Age Core rulebook. This week - A Death Knight.

Death Knight

Level 5 (Medium Double Strength Undead)
Init: +10
HP: 144 AC: 21 PD: 19  MD: 15

Soul Hungry Broadsword : +10 vs. AC (2 attacks) - 30 damage, Natural Even Hit: The attack deals an additional 18 damage Miss: The target receives the Enmity of the Death Knight.

Unholy Fire : +10 vs. PD (1d6 nearby creatures) - 18 damage and 11 ongoing damage Miss: 11 ongoing damage.

Enmity of the Death Knight : If a creature has the Enmity of the Death knight and they make an attack that doesn't include the him or they Disengage from him, the Death Knight can make a free Should Hungry Broadsword attack against them.

Unholy Presence : When a creature is engaged with the Knight it has a -2 to disengage checks and attack rolls.

: If you like this monster check out the other Iconic classic D&D monsters I've converted here :

13th Age NPC Kit - Available for Download

So finally i've put the last little bit of work in and pulled together the NPC Kit, you can download it here, and subscribe to the blog as no doubt i'll putting out updates as feedback comes in.

I've dropped the image background layouts - going with a simple text only layout, i've chosen a mobile/tablet optimised font and thin central text column so hopefully the pdf will be nice to read and use on mobile devices, as well as desktop/laptops.

I've still got to add bookmarks and sort the table of contents out - and do a revision based on any feedback I get but its practically done, i've been using it at my table for the last 2 months without any complaints!

: If you like this you should probably also check out my Trap Kit and the complete list of Iconic D20 Monsters both for 13th Age :

-  Happy gaming.

GM Kit : NPC Racial Powers

This is part of my steadily expanding GM Kit series of blog posts, mostly concerning (but not limited to) 13th Age. I play either online via Roll20 or during my weekly face to face game and either way i'll be using a laptop. The GM Kit series is designed to get all my tables and useful info all in one place. Hopefully you can get some use out of it too.

Here are the Player race abilities, converted to be used for NPC creation.

NB: AB represents the Attack Bonus as given on the Baseline Stats table at the NPC's corresponding level (p254. Core rulebook)

13A Homebrew: Decreasing DC's

So as some of the readers of this blog may know, i'm currently running an Old-School esq Megadungeon Crawl via Roll20 and Hangouts. This has led me to re-read all my OSR rulebooks (OD&D, AD&D and other non TSR products) for inspiration and to try and get the 'mood' right. So far so good, but i'm sure my players are the best people to ask.

(Don't worry if you're reading. No spoilers)

One thing that strikes a clear difference is the lack of a skill list in early version of D&D, there are skills - just not catalogued into neat list that 3e/4e is notable for. For example Elves will find secret doors (effectively the Perception/Search skill) on a 1 or 2 out of 6 on a d6, everyone else its just a 1.

I'd normally houserule this so every turn they spend looking, the odds of success increase - ensuring that a character will find a secret door automatically if the spend 6 turns (1 hour) looking for it. Or, for example, 4 in 6 chance if they spend 4 turns looking (40 minutes) Because if the characters can find a secret door after looking at the same place for an hour - whats the point?

So i've been thinking on how I can transfer this houserule across to my Megadungeon (and probably other) games i'm running. Decreasing DC's. Every turn a player spends performing an action the set DC decreases by 2 (assuming time can be used to increase the chances of success) meaning a Ridiculously hard task to perform in 10 minutes/1 turn at the Adventurer tier (DC 25) is much more manageable if you spend 60 minutes/6 turns (DC 13)

It even scales with tiers, Epic being DC 25, 30 and 35.

I know this kind of rules against failing forward (in a way) but then failing forward is a very 'new-school' story technique* and sometimes doesn't feel right in a certain type of game - after all OD&D teaches us that outright failure can and should happen, and you shouldn't like it either.

Also before i forget, don't suck the narrative out of it. Im not going to use this as a rule that doesn't require explaining. I guess you should come up with someway to let the players know how their time and effort is impacting the task at hand.

I'm going test this over the next couple of weeks - i'm sure my players wont even notice, but at least if I make them aware of the rules - it may impact the way they explore the dungeon. Hopefully that will be fun.

As always glad to hear your comments

- Happy gaming

*I know its not really a new-school technique, i'm sure there are tonnes of games that have been around for ages that either use failing forward or story mechanics to propel the game forward - i'm really using new-school label to act as a distinction between the gygaxian and the more modern approach to handling failure. 

D20 Icons - Slaad

Each week I'll be taking a crack at converting some of the most iconic d20 monsters that, for one reason or another didn't appear in the awesome 13th Age Core rulebook. This week - Slaad.

Slaad
Level 7 (Large Elemental Humanoid)
Init: +10
HP: 216 AC: 23 PD: 21  MD: 17

Vicious Claws : +12 vs. AC (2 attacks) - 23 damage

Gaping Maw : +12 vs. AC - 56 damage

Engulfed by chaos : When a Slaad makes a successful attack against a creature roll a d6, if the players can guess the number they are un-affected - if they cannot, they must roll on the Chaotic Effects table below.




Chaotic Effects :

1. Ongoing 10 psychic damage
2. Dazed (save ends)
3. Gain resistance to (choose one) Fire/Thunder/Poison
4. Confused (save ends)
5. The creature takes 15 damage and pops free
6. Hampered and gains +2 to its next attack roll
7. The creature may spend a recovery
8. The creature loses one recovery

: If you like this monster check out the other Iconic classic D&D monsters I've converted here :

D20 Icons - Yuan-Ti

Each week I'll be taking a crack at converting some of the most iconic d20 monsters that, for one reason or another didn't appear in the awesome 13th Age Core rulebook. This week - Yuan-Ti

Yuan-Ti
Level 5 (Magical Beast)
Init: +8
HP: 54 AC: 21 PD: 19  MD: 15

Tainted Scimitar: +13 vs AC - 18 damage, Natural even hit or miss: Ongoing 10 poison damage.

Wicked Hijazi : +13 vs. AC -  (one nearby creature) 18 damage, Natural even hit or miss: Ongoing 10 poison damage.

Cold Blooded Cunning: The first time the Yuan-Ti attacks an enemy during a battle, its crit range for that attack expands by 2 (to a maximum of 18+).

Nastier Special
Block Lotus Poison: If the Yuan-Ti makes a Melee or Range attack and rolls 16+ to hit, the creature is poisoned with the essence of the Black Lotus, they must begin making last gasp saves as their heart begins to stop!

: If you like this monster check out the other Iconic classic D&D monsters I've converted here :

Simple Mounted Combat for 13th Age.

A couple of my players bought horses, great I thought - they can travel loads faster. One of the buggers bought a warhorse, damn it I thought, now we have to make some rules for it in combat:

• A horse doubles your speed when in combat, we're not worried about realism this is an abstraction - horses make you faster.
• Give it baselines stats of appropriate level, large or regular - you can decide how substantial the horse is.
• Armour barding for a horse is the same as a shield for a humanoid. An abstraction but simple. +1 AC. By extension its also possible to get magical barding surely?
• Consider giving a warhorse a bonus to AC and Damage (+2 AC and 25% additional damage)
• If you riding a warhorse roll a d6 at the beginning of your turn, if its below the escalation die then it makes an attack against an engaged enemy.
• If you or the horse is staggered then you need to make a check to control the horse, this should be hard difficulty if on a regular horse, average difficulty with a warhorse. Failure results in the horse rearing and trying to bolt etc, perhaps even a Dex/Str check may be required to hang on - falling off could hurt.
• Stunts such as jumps and other tricky manoeuvres may required a Dex/Str background check to pull off successfully. Remember failing forward and offering tough choices on failure.
• You still have to disengage with a horse, the GM makes the call whether AOO are aimed at the horse or the rider.
• Missed attacks - Roll a natural 1-5? ignore any powers triggered by the attack and roll it again against the horse.

We tried to make this rules as simple and inclusive as possible. There's a bunch of stuff you could add in that just adds an additional layer of complexity that we don't need - combat is fun when its quick, we stopped playing 4e for a reason remember? Likewise I encourage rulings and players feedback, we've just started using these so it might change - let me know if you implement them and what you're players think about it.

Happy Gaming