Silver ENnie award winner for Best Rules; nominee for Best Game and Product of the Year. 13th Age combines the best parts of traditional d20-rolling fantasy gaming with new story-focused rules, designed so you can run the kind of game you most want to play with your group. Created by Rob Heinsoo and Jonathan Tweet, 13th Age gives you all the tools you need to make unique characters who are immediately embedded in the setting in important ways; quickly prepare adventures based on the PCs’ backgrounds and goals; create your own monsters; fight exciting battles; and focus on what’s always been cool and fun about fantasy adventure gaming: Icon relationships and One Unique Things offer exciting storytelling possibilities Backgrounds provide a simple, flexible skill system drawn from characters’ personal histories Escalation dice enable fun, fast-moving d20 combat. Owlbears will rip PC’s limbs off to feed their young. Get your copy of 13th Age today at the Pelgrane Shop or your local game store. “13th Age RPG delivers an incredible fantasy storytelling experience.” – io9 “13th Age is, perhaps, the first d20 game that I’ve ever played that treats the game inside of combat and the game outside of combat with equal love, attention, and innovation.” – Dorkadia Learn more about 13th […] More...



The Utility spell in 13th Age is a lovely way to cram all those spells that are great in the right situation, but useless most of the time into a single handy package. This article presents two variants on the regular Utility spell. Each one takes up a spell slot, as usual. Illusion Utility Spell 1st – disguise self Range: Close-quarters spell Daily Effect: This spell provides you with an effective magical disguise that lasts about ten minutes, making the skill check to avoid unmasking one step easier: easy if it would have been a normal task, normal if it would have been a hard task, and hard if it would have been a ridiculously hard task. The spell only affects your general appearance, not your size. It can be used to hide your features behind the generic features of another person or race. Using it to impersonate a specific creature makes it less effective as a disguise (-2 to -5 penalty). 3rd level spell: The spell lasts for 1 hour. 5th level spell: The spell also provides smell; +2 bonus to any checks. 7th level spell: The spell also handles correct-sounding vocal patterns and rough mannerisms; +4 bonus to any checks. 9th level spell: You can now target an ally with the spell; you can also now use it on up to two creatures at once. 1st – illusion Range: Close-quarters spell Daily Effect: You create a minor illusionary sound or smell. Nearby creatures that fail a normal save notice the sound or smell; those who make the save may notice it but recognise it as not exactly real. You must concentrate to maintain the illusion. 3rd level spell: You can create an apparition – an illusory object or creature of up to about human size. Again, those who fail treat the illusion as real; those who succeed recognise the object as an illusion. Interacting with the illusion in any contradictory way (trying to cross an illusory bridge) breaks the spell. Illusory creatures cannot move or attack, but can appear threatening. You can’t cast an illusion over something – it can only appear in empty space. Illusions can’t do actual harm. so if you crush someone with an illusory boulder or stab them with a fake sword, they soon notice they’re not crushed or stabbed. Unless they’re really stupid. 5th level spell: You may animate your apparitions, causing them to move. 7th level spell: It’s now a hard save to see through your illusions. 9th level spell: Your illusions now last even when you’re not concentrating on them. The illusion lasts as long as someone believes in it. 1st – cloak Range: Close-quarters spell Daily Effect: You make one small object or person… not invisible, per se, but easy to overlook. The spell won’t hide its target from even a cursory search, but it won’t be noticed by a quick glance. The spell lasts for one minute or so. 3rd level spell: You can now hide 1d4+1 targets. 5th level spell: Those cloaked are now hidden from scrying and divination spells. The caster of the divination spell can tell their spell has been blocked. This protection lasts until sunset or sunrise. 7th level spell: The protection from scrying and divination now lasts a full day. 9th level spell: You can hide a small army or a location (like a village or castle) from divination. 3rd – message Range: Close-quarters spell Daily Quick action to cast Effect: You send a one to two sentence message to another person you know and have touched in the last week. Sending a message to a person you can see is always easy. Sending a message to a person you can’t see requires a skill check using Intelligence against the highest-tier environment that you or the sender are occupying. The maximum distance you can send a message depends on the spell’s level. 3rd level spell: Across half a city, at most. 5th level spell: Across the entire city and a bit into the countryside. 7th level spell: Between cities near to each other. 9th level spell: From any city to any other city, or across a sea. 5th – enter dreams Range: Unlimited, as long as you’ve got a connection of some sort to the target. Daily Effect: You enter the dreams of the target. You’re an astral projection, but any damage you suffer on this jaunt is real damage – and you can be killed in a dream. Obviously, you can only cast this spell when they’re sleeping (the spell isn’t expended if you use it on an invalid target). When inside the target’s dreams, you can observe their subconscious thoughts, and may be able to plant suggestions, change their opinions or convince them you’re a messenger or omen – save vs inception, basically. The dream-world may identify you as an intruder and turn on you. 7th level spell: You can now ‘hop’ from dreamer to dreamer, scanning for a particular target even if you don’t have a connection them. You need to target a general area – for example, if your target is in Axis, you can move through the dreams of random people in Axis until you find your quarry. Also, you can take up to five other travellers with you in the dream. 9th level spell: You can now teleport to the location of your target, if they permit it. You appear when they wake up. Other travellers can’t teleport with you – it’s a solo teleport. 7th – symbol Range: Close-quarters spell Daily Effect: You brand a magical symbol on an immobile object or surface – typically, castle walls, mountain cliffs, stones marking the border of your domain and the like. If the object’s moved, or the symbol is physically destroyed, the spell is broken. You may inscribe your own personal symbol, or the symbol of an Icon. Symbols last until your next full heal-up. You can only inscribe one symbol in a place – if multiple symbols can be seen from a spot, they cancel each other out. Allies of that Icon are inspired by the sight of the symbol. They may immediately roll any positive relationship dice with that Icon. If you inscribed your own symbol, your allies are filled with awe at your power; any game benefit is up to the GM, but could include gaining a free save against an ongoing condition, spending a recovery, or just general good luck. Enemies of the Icon – or your enemies – are struck by a Intelligence + Level vs MD attack; those who are hit are affected by Fear (save ends). Either way, a character can only be affected by a given symbol once per day. 9th level spell: Your symbols are now permanent until destroyed. Transmutation Utility Spell 1st – feather fall Range: Close-quarters spell Daily Free action to cast Effect: When you cast this spell, it arrests your fall, letting you glide down the ground over a round or two. 3rd level spell: You can now target a nearby ally with the spell. 5th level spell: You can now target up to two nearby creatures with the spell. 7th level spell: You can now target up to five nearby creatures with the spell. 9th level spell: You gain some control over where a target falls, like a quickly gliding feather. 1st – hold portal Ranged spell Daily Effect: You cast this spell on a door. For ten minutes, adventurer-tier creatures can’t get through the door. Champion-tier creatures can batter it down; each attempt requires a DC 20 Intelligence skill check (including an applicable background) by the caster to resist the battering and keep the spell going. Epic-tier creatures can walk right through. 3rd level spell: The spell now lasts for an hour. Adventurer-tier creatures are stymied. Champion-tier creatures can batter the door down or destroy it after three failed DC 20 skill checks by the spellcaster. Epic creatures notice that the now-busted door had magic on it. 5th level spell: Champion-tier creatures take a few minutes to force the door open. Epic creatures can force it open after one failed DC 25 skill check by the spellcaster. 7th level spell: Champion-tier creatures are stymied for up to an hour by the door. Epic tier creatures get through after three failed DC 25 skill checks by the spellcaster. 9th level spell: Champion-tier creatures can’t enter. Epic-tier creatures can’t get through for an hour. 1st – disappear Daily Effect: You cause an object to vanish into a pocket dimension. You can call this object back into reality with a gesture, and it appears in your hand or next to you. At the GM’s discretion, willing people or player characters whose players missed this game session count as ‘objects’ for this spell. You can only disappear or conjure a single object with the spell – but a container full of objects counts as one target. If you’re unconscious or slain, or when the spell duration ends, the object reappears instantly. The size of the object depends on the level of the spell. 1st level spell: Anything that fits in the palm of your hand 3rd level spell: A backpack and its contents 5th level spell: A big sack 7th level spell: A large wardrobe, a horse and cart. 9th level spell: Pretty much anything. 3rd – levitate Ranged spell Daily Effect: Until the end of the battle, you can use a move action to rise straight up into the air or descend straight down. The spell itself won’t move you horizontally. The up-or-down movement is about half as fast as your normal movement. While levitating, you take a –2 penalty to your attacks and are vulnerable to attacks against you. 5th level spell: You can now cast the spell on a nearby willing ally instead of yourself. 7th level spell: You can now cast the spell as a quick action, and the spell can now affect two targets. 9th level spell: The spell can now affect five targets. 3rd – animate Daily Effect: By touching an object, you imbue it with temporary animation and life. You could cause a chair to dance, a candlestick to walk over and set a pile of straw on fire, a door to unlock itself, or a chain to wrap itself around a target. Animated objects are slow and comically clumsy – they can obey commands, but aren’t any good in a fight. The objects gain the power to bend and move, but will damage themselves if they try anything too strenuous. Objects connected to other objects (like a door in a wall) can be ordered to rip themselves free, but may succeed only in damaging themselves – and any damage to the object ends the spell. The object completes one task, then stops moving. 3rd level spell: Any object you can hold in your hand 5th level: A piece of furniture 7th level: Anything up to about the size of a house or small sailing ship. 9th level: Wake up, you lazy mountain! 3rd – transmute element Daily Effect: You charge your hands with the magical ability to transmute one element into another. Anything you touch while you concentrate on this spell is transformed. You can’t cast other spells while maintaining this one. Possible transmutations, any of which can be reversed. 3rd level: Rock to mud 5th level: Lead to gold, fire to ice 7th level: Flesh to stone, steel to glass. Also, you can now make your transmutations permanent if you wish. 9th level: No new transformation, but you can now cast the spell as a transmutation wave instead, affecting an area around you instead of being limited by touch. 5th – water breathing Range: Close-quarters spell Daily Quick action to cast Effect: You can breathe underwater for the rest of the battle (or about five minutes). You become aware a couple of rounds ahead of when the magic of the spell is about to end. 7th level spell: You and 1d4 + 2 nearby allies can breathe underwater this battle. 9th level spell: The spell affects you and 1d6 + 2 nearby allies for 4d6 hours. 7th – wall Quick action to Cast Daily Ranged spell Effect: You conjure a wall of stone. It’s a really big wall, nice and thick. It appears between you and the nearest person who intends to harm you, if you’re in combat. The wall can be climbed (DC25) or flown over, but it’s a really, really long wall, so people can’t trivially walk around it. If there are nearby anchor points – dungeon corridor walls, buildings, hills, etc – then the wall appears between them. Casting this spell immediately takes you and any nearby companions out of combat (assuming your foes can’t easily overcome the wall) without incurring a campaign loss. 9th level spell: It’s now a wall of fire.

By Julian Kuleck Illustration by Aaron McConnell & Lee Moyer To conclude the series on curses, we’ll be discussing other ways a PC might become cursed in play . . . or inflict curses of their own. At No Extra Charge Magical items are the most common way that heroes encounter a curse. Early F20 games loved to set cursed items as traps to ensnare characters with magic, whereas 13th Age uses them as traps to ensnare players with power. See 13th Age, 13 True Ways, and Loot Harder for specific examples. But it’s worth pondering what makes a cursed item, whether it’s fault, age, or a troubling self-awareness. With enchanted weapons, maybe centuries of exposure to trauma and violence turns an enchantment into a curse. Smiths forge weapons to harm and kill, and what could be more spiteful than that? For a low-level curse, consider a magic item whose quirk is truly malicious and sometimes hard to resist. Maybe the cursed-quirk will go away as the magic item accepts you as its user. Or maybe it will mutate into something weirder. Maybe magic items adjust to their users. If you’re taking a magic item from a monster, maybe the item has become monstrous over time. For the GM looking for ways to generate curses, abandonment could be just as bad as over-use. If magic items are alive, even if they’re not alive as we are, being abandoned for decades could have deleterious effects. Iconic Wrath Of the icons, those on the “evil” side of the alignment grid are most often associated with curses in the text, with the Diabolist and Lich King coming up the most often in that context. But those in power often deal out curses in myth regardless of their moral compass, and it’s not hard to imagine even the Great Gold Wyrm cursing a great paladin that betrays their watch, or the Prince of Shadows using a curse to lay a rival low. But there’s more we can do with icons that mere in-character tales of twisted tongues. The bard’s Balladeer talent (13A pg. 85) introduces the idea of cursed icon dice, which could easily represent an in-game curse, either adding cursed dice to a character’s icon relationships or replacing their dice with cursed dice—perhaps one per icon roll, at least until the character finds a way to purify themselves of bad luck. If you want to get into the business of cursing icons yourself, look up the bard’s Song of the Iconoclast in Book of Ages (BoA pg. 81). Why would you want to do such a thing? Well, we assume you have your reasons. So You’ve Got a Curse We haven’t talked much about curses on heroes in play. And by “curse”, in this context, we don’t mean the ongoing damage coming from a mouthy goblin mystic. We’re talking about curses as a plot twist, the sort that take agency from players. Some players may be fine with that, and some far less so. It’s best to know in advance, and there’s no rule against asking them straight-out. Spoiling a surprise is better than violating trust. The simplest way around this is to make curse-based plot twists largely about NPCs, preferably ones the characters have become invested in (or who invest in the heroes to solve their problem). Most curses leveled at PCs themselves should be flavorful in nature, or at least short-term, requiring a ritual or an icon’s favor. Of course, if a player really digs the characterization a good (bad?) curse brings, they can choose to embrace it. Just make sure it’s not an undue weight on the rest of the group. Most curses on PCs are best as narrative story elements rather than in-game penalties. If you do offer penalties, they should be modest, like those for cursed items. Our interest in cursing PCs would be for the story that evolves from such, and the story where a hero became 20% more likely to miss isn’t a particularly interesting one. Hexing 101 There’s no rule that PCs can’t get into the cursing business. Outside of class spells or a tiefling’s curse of chaos, handle this through the existing ritual rules (13A pg. 192). But depending on the nature of curses you’ve decided upon, curses may run on pure drama as much as magic. What hard-hearted GM could refuse the dying curse of a PC? And it could just be when the stars are right and emotions run high, even ill-considered words could have an impact. When handling ritual curses by PCs, balance their narrative weight against their efficacy as a solution, as they shouldn’t be a go-to solution for most games. Curses are rarely justifiable as heroic, and often carry an unwanted side effect or troublesome requirement. It’s likely that severe curses, the kind that blind people or cause unreasoning hostility from each passerby, may inflict a curse on the caster themselves. GMs may also want to consider curses the way they consider other personal and profound forms of violence. Casting a powerful curse is an act that seeks severe, premeditated wrong to somebody, and it’s up to you to figure out if that’s appropriate for your table. +1 Profane Bonus Sometimes cursed words are just foul instead of fiendish. We’re not going to dig deeply into profanity, but after all these words on ill fates, here’s something fun to think about ill words: what unique or special things do characters and monsters say when they run into unpleasant surprises? What would a dwarf be without some foul phrase about beards? Hell, what does a demon say when things go wrong? They can’t just say “hell!” or “damn!”—what’s a curse to others is normal for a demon. Some tables don’t appreciate profane cursing. Others thrive on it, and you can apply creativity either way. Your characters’ backgrounds, icons, and class can all contribute! If you’re a bard and you don’t have a colorful phrase when you drop your lute, I want you out of my tavern.

If you attended the 13th Age Monster Workshop at Gen Con Online this past weekend, you were treated to some odd and creepy fun with gnomes. It reminded me that way back in 2013, when 13th Age was still brand new, I ran this weird little adventure at Gen Con. It was a lot of fun so I’ve shared it here with some updates. The linkling and the clockwork automaton are both by ASH LAW—the former is from Into the Underworld, the latter from Shards of the Broken Sky. DEEP GNOME RISING A small adventure for level 2 characters Background: A representative of the PCs’ patron icon (choose one from their icon relationships) asks the group to investigate strange goings-on in a town within their region. Outgoing trade, travel, and communication has ceased; people who attempt to visit the town report seeing from a distance that it’s been bizarrely transformed by the presence of weird machines and mechanized structures such as gates, bridges, and automated watchtowers that fire crossbow bolts at anyone who gets too close. At the same time, a rough gang of drow bandits have been raiding nearby villages and robbing merchant caravans at night. When the PCs arrive (run a travel montage in which you dole out snippets of information about recent activity in and around the town over the past few months) they discover that the town is under the control of deep gnomes: a branch of gnomekind that dwells deep in the underworld, where its weirdness has made them become profoundly erratic and obsessed with “improving” things through science. The city is now ruled by the gnomarch Azbqiplth; its non-gnomish citizens live in fear of the new overlords and their well-meaning but profoundly dangerous civic efforts. The gnomes are accompanied by a contingent of surly drow who report directly to Azbqiplth’s majordomo Gaspard, a drider cyborg. The horrible truth: Azbqiplth is actually controlled by a science-minded intellect devourer named (as is custom) for its greatest achievement, which unfortunately is Escaped Execution by the Dwarf King for Blowing Up His Favorite Steam Chariot While Fixing It. After fleeing the Dwarf King’s realm in its automaton body, E.E. stumbled across a deep gnome settlement and was struck by inspiration: “Is an intellect devourer not entitled to the sweat of its brain?” it thought. E.E. envisioned a city dedicated to technological advancement far above the underworld, free from meddlers and naysayers. It killed Azbqiplth while the gnomarch was in a drunken stupor, took over his body, rallied its new subjects to support its scheme, and hired Gaspard’s gang of drow mercenaries as muscle. Gaspard convinced E.E. that simply taking over the town that happened to be directly above them would be easier than building one. Gaspard now uses the town as a base for looting and pillaging; he plans to disappear with his gang back into the underworld when the inevitable army shows up, leaving the gnomes to face the consequences. Monsters encountered in town: Deep Gnome Apprentice 1st level mook [humanoid] Initiative: +3 Truncheon +6 vs. AC—4 damage C: Grappling hook +6 vs. AC—3 damage Natural 16+ hit: Target is hampered (basic attacks only, normal save ends.) AC 14 PD 14 HP 5 (mook) MD 11 Mook: Kill one mook for every 5 damage you deal to the mob. Deep Gnome Journeyman 1st level troop [humanoid] Initiative: +3 Truncheon +6 vs. AC—6 damage if the gnomes and their allies outnumber their enemies; 4 damage if they don’t. R: Repeating crossbow +6 vs. AC—4 damage Confounding: Once per battle, when the deep gnome journeyman rolls a natural 16+ with an attack, it can also daze the target until the end of its next turn. AC 16 PD 13 HP 22 MD 12 Deep Gnome Master 4th level leader [humanoid] Initiative: +5 Sword +10 vs. AC—14 damage, and willing–underling triggers R: Throwing axe +8 vs. AC—10 damage Protect me, you dolts!: Until the start of its next turn, the first time an attack would hit the deep gnome master, it can partially avoid that attack if deep gnome journeyman or apprentice is nearby: It only takes half damage from the attack, and that ally takes the rest. Confounding: Once per battle, when the deep gnome master rolls a natural 11+ with an attack, it can also daze the target until the end of its next turn. AC 20 PD 17 HP 50 MD 14 Linkling A tiny mechanical golem, linklings are spherical assemblages of cogs, chains, and clockwork. 1st level mook [construct] Initiative: +4 Gear teeth +7 vs. AC—5 damage Natural even hit or miss: Disengaging from the linkling has a -5 penalty as it wraps tiny chains around its target’s feet. Limited golem immunity: Non-organic golems are immune to effects. They can’t be dazed, weakened, confused, made vulnerable, or touched by ongoing damage. You can damage a golem, but that’s about it. Linklings are fragile, and lose their golem immunity when the escalation die is even. AC 17 PD 15. HP 7 (mook) MD 10 Mook: Kill one linkling mook for every 7 damage you deal to the mob. Clockwork Automaton Gears grind and the thing moves forward on a pair of spoked, iron wheels. Each of its metal arms ends in a sharp point. 2nd level troop [construct] Initiative: +4 Spear-hands +6 vs. AC—6 damage Natural even hit: The automaton can make a second spear-hands attack as a free action (but not a third). Made of gears and cables: When an attack crits against it or when it’s staggered, the automaton must roll an easy save (6+). On a failure, the construct’s internal workings fail, and it breaks apart in a small explosion of metal and gears. Drop the automaton to 0 hp and make an exploding gears attack. C: Exploding gears +6 vs. PD (each creature engaged with or next to the automaton)—2d12 damage AC 17 PD 14 HP 40 MD 12 Monsters encountered in the Mayoral Hall Gaspard An elegant, polite dark elf who acts as the majordomo of the Deep Gnome gnomarch. His lower body is a mechanical spider constructed by deep gnomes and powered by harnessed lightning. Large 4th level caster [wrecker] Initiative: +4 Sword-wielding mechanical arms +9 vs. AC—14 damage Natural even hit: Gaspard can make a lightning bolt attack as a free action. R: Lightning bolt +11 vs. PD—20 lightning damage Natural even hit: Gaspard can make a lightning bolt attack against a second nearby enemy, followed by a third and final different nearby enemy if the second attack is also a natural even hit. C: Lightning web +11 vs. PD (up to 2 nearby enemies in a group)— the target is hampered (basic attacks only, save ends) Limited use: 1/round as a quick action, if the escalation die is even. Clockwork spider: Gaspard can climb walls as easily as running across the floor. Summon Lightning Ghosts: Once per battle when staggered, Gaspard can summon 1d6 lightning ghosts to attack his foes. They act on the following turn and remain till killed or the battle ends, whichever comes first. AC 20 PD 18 HP 54 MD 14 Lightning Ghost 1st level spoiler [elemental] Initiative: +8 Shocking claws +6 vs. AC—3 damage, and 5 ongoing damage Electrical aura: Whenever a creature attacks the lightning ghost and rolls a natural 1–5, that creature takes 1d10 lightning damage. Flight: Lightning ghosts are hard to pin down because they fly. Not that fast or well, but you don’t have to fly well to fly better than humans and elves. AC 16 PD 11 HP 27 MD 15 Dark Elf Mercenary 1st level spoiler [humanoid] Initiative: +3 Fancy sword +5 vs. AC—4 damage Natural even hit: The drow deals an additional 5 ongoing bleeding damage (6+ save ends) AC 17 PD 14 HP 27 MD 12 Azbqiplth, Gnomarch of the Deep Gnomes Azbqiplth has become more machine than gnome. Madness! 5th level wrecker [construct] Initiative: +8 Fists of iron +10 vs. AC—15 damage Miss: 5 damage. Limited golem immunity: Due to his part-mechanical nature, Azbqiplth can only be dazed, weakened, confused, made vulnerable, or touched by ongoing damage when the escalation die is even Poison gas: The first time Azbqiplth is staggered, poison gas leaks from his mechanical body into the area. He can make a poison gas cloud attack as a free action. [Special trigger] C: Poison gas cloud +10 vs. PD (all nearby foes)—5 ongoing poison damage Confounding: Once per battle, when Azbqiplth rolls a natural 11+ with an attack, he can also daze the target until the end of his next turn. AC 21 PD 19 HP 72 MD 15 Escaped Execution by the Dwarf King for Blowing Up His Favorite Steam Chariot While Fixing It (aka E.E.), Intellect Devourer 3rd level spoiler [aberration] Initiative +5 C: Recall trauma +8 vs. MD (one nearby enemy)—16 psychic damage Natural even hit: The target can’t add the escalation die bonus to its attacks (save ends). C: Ego scourge +8 vs MD (one enemy)—10 psychic damage, and the target must choose one: take 10 extra damage; OR lose two points (cumulative) from its highest current background until the next full heal-up. C: Mind wipe +9 vs MD (nearby enemies equal to escalation die)—The target can neither detect the intellect devourer’s presence nor remember it was ever there to begin with. If no enemy remembers the devourer is there, remove it from play. All nearby enemies immediately detect the devourer’s presence if it makes an attack or if it hasn’t left the battle by the end of its next turn. Limited use: 1/battle. Exploit trauma: An intellect devourer’s crit range with attacks against MD expands by 2. Psychovore: An intellect devourer remembers the current escalation die value the first time it becomes unhosted in a battle and gains a bonus equal to that value to all attacks and defenses. Nastier Specials Increased trauma: Add the following extra effect trigger to the intellect devourer’s recall trauma attack. Natural 5, 10, 15, 20: The target can’t cast spells until the end of its next turn. AC 19 PD 15 HP 56 MD 19 13th Age combines the best parts of traditional d20-rolling fantasy gaming with new story-focused rules, designed so you can run the kind of game you most want to play with your group. 13th Age gives you all the tools you need to make unique characters who are immediately embedded in the setting in important ways; quickly prepare adventures based on the PCs’ backgrounds and goals; create your own monsters; fight exciting battles; and focus on what’s always been cool and fun about fantasy adventure gaming. Purchase 13th Age in print and PDF at the Pelgrane Shop.

by Julian Kuleck illustration by Dagmara Matuszak We focused on demons in the first curse article—cursed and accursed demons. Here, we cover the many other 13th Age and F20 monsters that originated as curses or get much of their oomph delivering curses. Deathly (Well, Undeathly) Curses After the Diabolist, the Lich King is the icon most frequently associated with curses. Cursing a foe with a fate worse than death is a long-running fantasy trope, and what fate could be worse than undeath? (A few, but let’s not belabor them.) Many undead arise from curses, possibly even as a careless curse as one dies. As such, it could be that some undead aren’t entirely destroyed by being reduced to 0-hp—to eliminate a truly cursed undead, you’ve got to resolve the curse that created them. Start with the zombies of the Silver Rose (13TW pg. 207). Are their curses spoken in service to the Lich King, or are they condemnations of a world that failed them? To take this idea all the way to the top, consider the Lich King. The One-Eyed King is almost certainly a self-made monster rather than the product of somebody else’s spite, but it could be that while another—like the Emperor—sits on his throne, the Lich King cannot fall, fueled by fated hatred that goes beyond necromantic artifice. Orcish Objurations Orcs, goblins, and other followers of the Orc Lord often deal in curses, which could easily be a lesson or secret unearthed by their icon. Or it could be that curses are a primal form of magic born of emotion, not requiring the towers and textbooks that produce many wizards. With that, it also could be part of the training a “book-wizard” goes through is just to steer them away from the easier and more troublesome hexes offered by magic. Or it could be that curses are the magic of the underdog, and that those who lack power in an age find them easier to cast. This wouldn’t really square with the tales of icons casting curses, but icons break the rules. The fact that orcs emerge from ruined lands absolutely feels like the ancient curse of an icon. Curses of the Moon Werebeasts (13TW pg. 204) spread a deadly, curse-based infection. If the moon is full, an adventurer who takes a nip from a lycanthrope can be infected with lycanthropy. How easily heroes can diagnose lycanthropy before the full moon shines is a matter for GMs to decide. If you’re seeking a more playable version of lycanthropy, the beastblood from Book of Ages (BoA pg. 77) could fulfill that need. Before lycanthropy was a curse, it’s said to have been a blessing given by the Wolf Druid (BoA pg. 74). Perhaps the Wolf Druid punished those who stole his gift of shapeshifting, creating the infection the Dragon Empire knows today. Alternately, if the Wolf Druid forbid those who took on bestial shape from feeding on humans, one of the Druid’s folk biting down on the Emperor of a past age would certainly have broken that ban. The lesson you could apply more widely is that any blessing, with sufficient corruption via replication, can mutate into a curse. Curses of the Blood In fiction, vampires (13A pg. 248) are often the result of an ancient curse. Perhaps they arise from the curse of a god (or blessing of a dark god), a curse cast by the Lich King on his wayward descendants, or maybe they’re an object lesson as to why alchemists don’t include elven blood in their potions anymore. But how would a PC come under the effect of a curse? We suggest making it a slow process, requiring several nights or multiple bites, so that the characters can race against time to keep the curse from taking full effect. But if you want a playable vampire curse, here’s an option for those who have become creatures of the night: Bloodkin +2 Str OR +2 Cha Since vampires have many interpretations, we’re providing two different racial abilities for bloodkin. Players should choose one for their characters. Draining bite is more suitable to those who like wading into the thick of combat, while hypnotic gaze can be used by any character. Draining Bite (Racial Power) Once per battle, after you have hit with a melee attack that staggers a non-mook foe, you may heal using a recovery as a free action. You may substitute your Strength modifier for your Constitution modifier for the purposes of this recovery. This recovery must be rolled; you may not take the average result. Champion Feat: When you trigger draining bite, the foe staggered becomes dazed until the end of your next turn. Hypnotic Gaze (Racial Power) Once per battle, when an enemy misses you with a natural attack roll of 1-5, they may not target you with an attack until the end of their next turn. Champion Feat: When you trigger hypnotic gaze, you may deal 3 x the enemy’s level in damage to a different enemy engaged with you, as you induce the attacking enemy to strike another. If the enemy that triggers hypnotic gaze has a damaging ranged attack, the target of the damage no longer needs to be engaged with you! But Vampires Can’t . . . . As with their more monstrous cousins, it’s suggested that you customize a bloodkin’s weaknesses and requirements to the specific character or campaign. Such limitations should serve as roleplaying flavor and fodder, not as blocks on what the character can do. Maybe bloodkin just find the sun uncomfortable rather than harmful, or can shield themselves with heavy clothing. They could can feed on lifeforce or magic as much as blood, or may choose to feed on animals and monsters. Perhaps garlic tastes like soap rather than repelling them. This might seem lightweight, but is ultimately just a necessity of including vampires in an ensemble cast—having them bound by hard limitations risks too much of the game revolving around their needs. Haggish Doggerel The monster most strongly associated with inflicting curses would be the hag (13B pg. 104). After all, the name “hag” also gave us the German hexe. Their ability to cast a death curse is one thing, but just as interesting is their ability to remove other curses. They could be good folk to consult for any curse. . . for certain definitions of “good”, anyway. But what price might a hag ask? Self-serving requests come to mind, but it could be to remove a curse, one must inflict an equal curse. Does a hero choose to live with their affliction, or pass it on, not knowing who might be the next victim? It could be that a hag is what you eventually become after casting one too many curses. Or they could be victims of the first curse, a lesson they took to heart. The hags aren’t telling, at least without exacting a price just as severe. The Modern Hag In my games, hags can be any gender. I also don’t call them “hags”—I give them specific names or titles, like Anali the Soulsmith or Ever-Hungry Tvertak.

By Julian Kuleck illustration by Lee Moyer In many F20 games, curses are a flavorful inconvenience, temporary problems that can be removed by a single memorized spell. In 13th Age, freeform character creation options and flexible magic provide some mechanical and narrative space that can spin curses into blessings! In the big picture, curses have begun and ended ages, spawned monsters, and shaken the Dragon Empire to its core. While keeping those momentous occasions in mind, this series of articles will focus on the smaller picture, embracing the rich heritage of supernatural curses as fun options for player characters and GMs. One Unique Curse Curses are often singular, which makes them perfect candidates for a player character’s One Unique Thing. Mythology is rich with colorful curses you can adapt to your character, along with the adventure-driving hook of one day escaping from the curse. But that’s not the only reaction a character can have to be cursed. Some characters might accept a curse as a form of penance, or even take on a curse voluntarily. A character who is blithely unconcerned about a curse that freaks out the rest of the adventuring party can be a roleplaying treasure! Some players might view taking a curse as their unique as a hassle, but that’s not necessarily so. Even a drawback can become a boon. While a curse that grants power at a cost is classic, you can also consider what advantages might come of a purely-unfortunate curse. Having a curse to always speak the truth is a definite limitation, but it also means those aware of your curse can’t easily question your sincerity. [[Editor’s note: For another example, a character in one of my current 13th Age games was cursed by his enchantress ex-wife to have inanimate objects talk with him at inopportune times. It’s not only great comedy that everyone can chime in on, it’s also a potentially useful GM tool when I want to convey almost-helpful information as sarcastically as possible. –Rob H]] But curses needn’t center on a character. It could be the hero’s unique is the result of a curse on somebody else. For example, a curse laid on an oppressive ruler might return an ancient hero to the world. Or perhaps the character is the only one immune from a curse laid on a community or locale. The character could be only one who can cast or inflict a specific hex! If you want to get more ambitious, maybe it’s a shared curse that holds your motley party together in the first place! Damn You From Hell! Where do curses come from? In 13th Age, they’re often associated with demons and devils. Many demons have abilities that invoke the curse word, like an imp’s curse aura (13A pg. 210) or the nalfeshnee’s abyssal curse (13A pg. 214). And “accursed” is a common term thrown around in regards to hellholes. Do infernal beings have an (un?)natural ability to inflict curses, or does their spite just give them a gift for it? What if demons were the ultimate source of all curses? What if all curses are summonings, bringing forth demonic spirits that attach to and bedevil the afflicted person. With that, a hellhole could be a form of curse itself, which would match the incidental curses that tend to arise in proximity to them. Could a sufficiently cursed person become a walking hellhole? One would hope not, but maybe that’s what made the current Diabolist what she is today. There certainly are enough reasons for others to curse her . . . . Ancestral Sins On the player side of the infernal coin, tieflings have access to the freeform ability curse of chaos. Causing trouble for others literally runs in their blood. But it’s worth thinking about how intentional this ability is (though the player is always in charge of the ability’s use). Is it something the tiefling can use instinctively? Is it triggered by their emotions? Or is it a trick passed down through demonblooded communities, learned long ago from abyssal lessons? A lot of those answers will have to do with how you handle the infernal in your campaign and tieflings’ relationship to it. Either way, it’s a potent weapon. It could be that the combination of free-willed spite and accursed ancestors is an evolving brew that makes tieflings potentially greater than their forebears when it comes to hexes. Hexperts Book of Demons introduced the demonologist, and after the above, it should be no surprise that they’re the most curse-intensive class in the game. But because the demonologist emerged after 13th Age’s other classes, only the bard’s jack of spells talent (13A pg. 86) gets access to their toolbox. But it doesn’t have to be that way! Here’s an alternative heritage talent for the sorcerer which could be adapted to other classes as you like. As you can see, this is another heritage talent related to the Diabolist. It’s meant to be an alternate talent for Infernal Heritage, the sorcerer talent on page 138 of the core rulebook that’s associated with the Diabolist. If you really want to play up your diabolic heritage and take two talents that are associated with the Diabolist, there’s nothing really stopping you except the sideways glances of your fellow adventurers. Accursed Heritage (Diabolist) Your existence offends fortune itself. This has its uses. You can use one of your sorcerer spell choices to choose any demonologist curse spell, using the guidelines for curse spells contained under the demonologist class features (Book of Demons, pg. 9). When you cast such spells, you do so as if you were an initiate demonologist. In addition, you may spend a quick action to come up with a curse spoken loudly and clearly. When the curse triggers, the target suffers a minor thematic effect in line with the curse proclaimed, as with the wizard talent Vance’s polysyllabic verbalizations (13A pg. 149) or the tiefling’s curse of chaos (13A pg. 72). Such effects should add flavor to the curse, not just exacerbate it. Adventurer Feat: If you roll a 1 or 2 when casting a curse spell, it automatically recharges at the end of battle. Make sure to curse your luck. Champion Feat: You no longer need to expend an extra quick action to perform a verbal curse. Epic Feat: Once per battle when casting a curse spell, you may make its recharge roll immediately instead of at the end of battle. 13th Age combines the best parts of traditional d20-rolling fantasy gaming with new story-focused rules, designed so you can run the kind of game you most want to play with your group. 13th Age gives you all the tools you need to make unique characters who are immediately embedded in the setting in important ways; quickly prepare adventures based on the PCs’ backgrounds and goals; create your own monsters; fight exciting battles; and focus on what’s always been cool and fun about fantasy adventure gaming. Purchase 13th Age in print and PDF at the Pelgrane Shop.

How do you keep an empire together? One obvious answer is the ability to move people and things quickly and easily from one place to another: trade goods, armies, officials, citizens. Perhaps just as important is the ability to move information across long distances. Are the forces of the Orc Lord mustering to attack from the north? Has a spy in Drakkenhall discovered an assassination plot in Horizon? Is one of the Archmage’s wards failing? If you can’t get word to the right people, the consequences could be disastrous. Information is also used to unify people across great distances and throughout the ages: to say, “this is who we are”, “this is where we came from”, “these people and events are important to understanding the world”. Here are 7 ideas for long-distance communication in your 13th Age campaign: The Mockingbirds: Members of this secret society of bards can be found all over the Dragon Empire, and have developed sophisticated ways of transmitting information to each other through coded messages hidden in poems, tales, and musical compositions. Mockingbirds have trained their entire lives in the art of listening to a piece once and then flawlessly reproducing it. Swift Wind: Emerging during the rebellion against the Terrible Emperor, these monks have trained to run overland for days without resting. Legends say they can run across water as if it were solid ground, and over the tops of trees, carrying messages between monasteries. One legendary Swift Wind monk is said to have fearlessly delivered a message to the heart of the Abyss itself. Song of Stone: That sound of clattering and sliding rock you hear faintly in the blackness of the Underworld? It might be natural, or it might be a dwarf using a handful of stones and their knowledge of how echoes travel in the deep to send a coded message across the miles. Whispering Spirits: Wizards, druids, and elves often employ magical spirits to send messages to allies, friends, and lovers—once they have delivered the message, or returned with an answer, they are free to depart. Because they are more idea than flesh their minds don’t quite work the same as ours, so the message must take the form of a riddle or poem. Magic Mirrors: One of the oldest forms of long-distance magical communication, reflective surfaces—such as mirrored glass, pools of water, polished shields—are highly suitable for enchanting because they present a view of the world that appears real, but is not. Because they’re so common, magic mirrors have become increasingly risky to use these days: you might find yourself speaking with the magical reflection of a long-dead wizard who used the same mirror in a previous age, or discover too late that a rakshasa was a silent third party listening in on your plans via its own magic mirror. Nonsense: Thieves, beggars, and traveling peddlers use an “anti-language” which they commonly call Nonsense to talk openly among themselves without being understood by outsiders. Nonsense borrows words and phrases from languages throughout the Dragon Empire (and even beyond its borders), and processes them through backward-speak, rhyming slang, and wordplay to produce a fast-paced patter that sounds like you should understand it, but you can’t seem to hear it quite right. In this way, everything from gossip to military intelligence can travel from one city to another along the trade routes. Work Songs: Sea shanties, marching cadences, and other songs and chants which take their rhythm from the work being performed, are an important way that culture is learned, preserved, and spread across the Empire. Lines in some of these songs go back to the Empire’s founding, and a careful listener might glean valuable information about places, monsters, and magic items from them. They also can contain valuable common-sense advice, such as: I don’t know but I’ve been told Ray of Frost is mighty cold 13th Age combines the best parts of traditional d20-rolling fantasy gaming with new story-focused rules, designed so you can run the kind of game you most want to play with your group. 13th Age gives you all the tools you need to make unique characters who are immediately embedded in the setting in important ways; quickly prepare adventures based on the PCs’ backgrounds and goals; create your own monsters; fight exciting battles; and focus on what’s always been cool and fun about fantasy adventure gaming. Purchase 13th Age in print and PDF at the Pelgrane Shop.

Shop the Goblin Market, or plunder its riches! Join the SMASH Society of adventurers, or swear oaths to carry out the schemes of the Blue! Explore the rubblehoods, or get tangled in the sorcerous conspiracy that keeps the orcs out of Drakkenhall! Drakkenhall: City of Monsters is a 13th Age sourcebook for GMs running adventurer and champion-tier campaigns. Drakkenhall doesn’t present a single view of the subject, but many. Just as no two 13th Age campaigns take place in identical versions of the Dragon Empire, the authors of Drakkenhall aren’t required to treat previously published material, or each other’s ideas, as canon. Instead, we gave each designer the freedom to come up with new aspects of the City of Monsters that they think players and GMs will enjoy—you can fit them together however you like at your own table. Most of the pieces of the resulting mosaic have, in fact, turned out to be compatible! The ideas that deliberately contradict each other reveal choices you and your players can make in your campaign. Drakkenhall looms before you, its gates open. Dare you enter? Authors: Liz Argall, AnneMarie Boeve, Benjamin Feehan, Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan, Cal Moore, Corey Reddin Developers: John-Matthew DeFoggi, Rob Heinsoo Status: In development [[Map above by Lee Moyer, from 13 True Ways]]

text by Julian Kuleck Why let spellcasters have all the fun? This variant rule for the 13th Age RPG expands the ritual rules to those don’t wield magic, giving them an option to use their backgrounds in fantastical fashion. Pushing a castle gate with strength alone, deducing a culprit from a footprint, foiling a massive army with a brilliant gambit—these are mighty deeds. This variant mechanic allows PCs to take on a more grandiose role than in many F20 games, allowing them to perform the feats of mythological heroes. Exactly how far you want to take this variant rule is up to your group, and it’s best to establish what you’re aiming for. While pulling up a castle portcullis with strength alone is one thing, it’ll be up to you if redirecting a river is over the line. Mighty deeds work similarly to rituals (13A pgs. 192-193). But where rituals draw flavor from the spell sacrificed to cast them, deeds are influenced by the backgrounds of the character performing them. “Ascendant of the Seventh Mountain” could fit mighty deeds relating to climbing or awareness of the Seventh Mountain’s region, for example. “The Forbidden Librarian” would relate to knowing things that should never be known. A character needs to take an adventurer-tier feat to perform mighty deeds, and they cost recoveries to perform. Exactly what constitutes a mighty deed can be vague, but if it seems outside of the realm of mildly exaggerated (i.e. action movie) human capability, it’s probably a mighty deed rather than a normal background check. There isn’t a precise line, and individual GMs will have to assess what requires a mighty deed and what doesn’t. But to take our Ascendant of the Seventh Mountain, free climbing a mountain or being aware of likely ambush points would just be a normal skill check. However, ascending at the pace of a run, leaping across a massive gorge, or being aware of enemy presences on your mountain (sight unseen) would be a mighty deed. Mighty deeds aren’t as open-ended as rituals. They’re tied more tightly to backgrounds, serving as exaggerations of a character’s existing abilities and skill. In turn, they tend to have lesser requirements than rituals, as the Ascendant isn’t going to have to collect the eyelash of a medusa to make their way up a mountain. But they still often require groundwork. A tactician’s trick to hold off a skeletal army could require time to devise a plan, plant traps, etc. Even leaping up a mountain might take a moment to focus or warm up. To perform a mighty deed: Declare the background relating to your mighty deed.

Tell the GM what you’re trying to accomplish. If a deed requires groundwork, this can become a mini-adventure or an encounter if the GM or players wish. The GM should declare how many recoveries it should take. This is typically just 1 recovery, but it may take 2 or even 3 if the feat is particularly amazing. In most cases, a deed that simply advances the heroes on the adventure would require a single recovery. Deeds that could change the course of a story or plot would take two recoveries. Finally, deeds that impact the setting (like the aforementioned river redirection) would be three recoveries.

Spend 1d4 rounds / minutes / quarter-hours performing the deed. Like with rituals, the PC must be wholly focused and can’t perform other attacks without aborting the deed. (But some deeds may count as attacks; see below.) Similarly, falling unconscious and some status effects may raise the DC or negate the attempt. For example, being on fire would probably it more difficult to complete a song to sway the heart of a vengeful ghost. But maybe not; it depends on the ghost!

Make a skill check using the declared background and an ability score determined by the GM, using standard DC targets based on the tier and effect. Determining results: The outcome is guided by the background chosen, though elements like class or the One Unique Thing might play in as well. A commander could stop an army with a clever ploy, while a barbarian might shout an army into stopping. Like rituals, mighty deeds don’t need to be repeatable in every circumstance—they’re supposed to be the exception to normal skill checks, not the routine. The “rule of cool” applies here, and if a mighty deed stops being interesting, gamemasters should encourage players to innovate with more grandiose effects. Failing forward: Just like with normal skill checks, mighty deeds fail forward. However, unlike normal skill checks, mighty deeds tend to function by default but create consequences. The Ascendant leaping across a gorge might send rocks tumbling down, alerting creatures or enemies to the party’s presence. The Forbidden Librarian might discover a tidbit of lore in a dream, but the mental strain gives them a temporary quirk. However, recoveries remain expended even on a failure. Deeds during battles: Mighty deeds are typically used outside of combat, but there are circumstances where it’s necessary conceptually. For example, it’s hard to imagine knocking over a wall on a group of goblins would be harmless! Such deeds are adjudicated like the rogue’s Swashbuckling talent (13A pg. 128), though less comparatively reliable due to the time, cost, and roll involved. Some might even count as attacks, inflict a status effect, or both. Gamemasters should consider the time and cost involved in a deed to determine their effect. Summary: Mighty deeds exist to expand a PC’s skill checks in a free-form and dramatic fashion, and provide new creative avenues for players. Don’t ever use them to punish characters with time and costs simply for trying difficult things—if a skill check seems on the verge of being a mighty deed, it’s better to be cautious and let them perform a normal skill check instead. General Feats These feats are available to any character, but are mainly meant for classes that lack access to the Ritual Caster (13A pg. 44) adventurer-tier feat. Mighty Deeds Adventurer Tier: You can perform mighty deeds by expending recoveries. Champion Feat: You gain an additional 2 recoveries that may only be expended to perform mighty deeds. Epic Feat: Gain +5 to any skill check used to perform a mighty deed. Deeds by Class The following are additional options for certain classes that have purchased the Mighty Deeds adventurer-tier feat. Commander Deeds You may expend a tactic to perform a mighty deed with a cost of 1 or 2 recoveries. Just like a spellcaster that expends a spell for a ritual, the tactic should be related to the deed in question. Barbarian Deeds When performing a mighty deed with a cost of 1 or 2 recoveries, you may expend your daily use of rage to waive its recovery cost. This must be related to your rage thematically, being likely related to anger or destruction. After the deed is complete, you may roll to recover your rage as if you had used it in battle. Fighter Deeds Fighters already benefit from an extra recovery by default, letting them perform mighty deeds more often. Monk Deeds You may expend 2 points of ki to replace 1 recovery when performing a mighty deed. Mighty deeds fueled by ki should be related to your martial prowess and self-control. Paladin Deeds You may expend 2 uses of smite to replace 1 recovery when performing a mighty deed. Mighty deeds fueled by smite uses will likely have some miracle associated with them, blurring the line between divine magic and personal skill. Ranger Deeds Rangers with the Tracker talent may expend their terrain stunt to waive the cost of a mighty deed with a cost of 1 or 2 recoveries that relates to terrain or wilderness. Rogue Deeds Rogues with the Swashbuckling talent can expend Momentum to waive the cost of a mighty deed with a cost of 1 or 2 recoveries that relates to being tricky or flamboyant. Everybody’s Special Or at least all PCs can be! Personally, I give all characters the choice of taking the Mighty Deeds or Ritual Caster (13A pg. 44) adventurer-tier feats in my games for free. Retaining the feat cost could be more appropriate for games where mighty deeds are very unusual or related to grandiose One Unique Things.

“The world blew up in a thousand atomic fireballs.” – Ralph Bakshi’s Wizards (1977) “Books (including tomes, librams and manuals), artifacts, and relics are of ancient manufacture, possibly from superior human or demi-human technology, perhaps of divine origin; thus books, artifacts, and relics cannot be made by players and come only from the Dungeon Master.” – Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon Master’s Guide (1979) “Two thousand years later, Earth is reborn. A strange new world rises from the old: a world of savagery, super-science, and sorcery!” – Thundarr the Barbarian (1980) There’s a campaign I’d love to run someday that dives joyfully into the implications of an idea that’s been around since the beginning of the tabletop fantasy roleplaying hobby: that the characters explore and have adventures in a post-apocalyptic world built atop the ruins of long dead, highly advanced civilizations. The idea originated long before Gary Gygax, of course—his inspirations included M.A.R Barker’s world of Tékumel and Jack Vance’s Dying Earth—and is expressed today in RPGs such as Numenera from Monte Cook Games. Post-apocalyptic adventure is already baked into 13th Age: the default setting has 12 previous ages, after all. But the default vibe is fantasy with bits of science fiction here and there, rather than the science fantasy campaign I’m imagining. So, how would I give 13th Age a strong “swords, super-science, and sorcery” feeling? Here’s how I’d think about a post-apocalyptic science fantasy campaign, one that I’ll refer to in this post as Gamma Draconis. The World The world is old, and haunted by the ruins, relics, and memory of long-dead “Ancients”.

Many of the civilizations of the Ancients were incredibly advanced technologically, even by our standards.

The people of this world live amid the devastation of a global catastrophe that ended the most recent of the great civilizations hundreds or thousands of years ago.

The world feels weird: the sky is a strange color, the weather is dangerous and wildly unpredictable, and a lot of things are trying to kill you.

Monsters and humanoids are the result of genetic engineering, interplanetary travel, mutation, and extraterrestrial invasion.

The player characters are heroes who represent hope amid the tragedy and horror of this world.

Technology ranges from Stone Age (isolated wildlands dwellers, nomads of the irradiated wastes) to Iron Age (the largest and most prosperous cities).

People also make use of technology and magic which was created long ago, but which they no longer understand.

No distinction is made between science and magic; the two are ultimately indistinguishable. The Icons There are many options for icons in my imagined Gamma Draconis campaign. I’m drawn to the idea of using the icons in the 7 Icon Campaign from 13th Age Monthly adjusted to reflect a post-apocalyptic tone, and the mix of magic and far-future technology: The Deathless Queen: A combination of the Diabolist and the Lich King, she rules a subterranean realm of the undead: once-living humanoids animated by technology and dark wizardry She has allied herself with malevolent beings known as demons, whose catastrophic arrival via portals (“hellholes”) from the dimension known as the Abyss destroyed the last great human civilization. The living in her realm endure her reign in terror and numb despair, or hope for the immortality that she alone can grant. The Engineer: A combination of the Dwarf King and the Crusader, the Engineer sends his people out all over the world to slay demons and undead, and bring the ancient technology they guard back to the citadel of Forge to be studied and mastered. I might give dwarf PCs, and/or PCs who have a relationship with the Engineer, the option to spend Background points on “Engineer”. This Background adds a bonus to figuring out relics, and a 5-point Engineer can try to repair or recharge broken or depleted relics. The Invincible Emperor: A villainous merger of the Emperor and the Great Gold Wyrm, this cruel, decadent tyrant—an immortal being once human, now almost completely dragonic—rules the Dragon Empire from his throne in the Golden Citadel. His dragon-riding paladins enforce his will and crush his enemies. The Hierophant: A combination of the Priestess and the Archmage, she is actually an ancient artificial intelligence that resides within the Cathedral—a massive structure that towers over Horizon, City of Wonders—where she is tended by her arcanite servants. She grants heroic clerics and wizards a portion of her power to help aid and protect the helpless. Her wards prevent demons and undead from ravaging across the land, for now. The Three in Shadow: The slithering reptilian powers known as the Sorcerer Queen (the Blue), the Prince of Shadows (the Black), and the Great Beast (the Red) each prey on civilization in their own way, but are united in a powerful bond. For the desperate and downtrodden, their aid can be welcome—though it always comes with a hidden agenda. The Warlord: Replacing the Orc Lord, the Warlord unites the creatures of the savage wastelands under his banner, and dreams of sitting on the Emperor’s golden throne. He might be a heroic rebel, or a Mad Max: Fury Road style villain—or something more abbiguous. The Wild Queen: This combination of the Elf Queen and the High Druid is the soul of those wild, green places where beasts, trees, and elves dwell. Her elves embody three sorts of wild things: wildlife (wood elves), the wild cosmos (high elves), and the inner wild (drow). Available PC Races Any race could be in this campaign, either explained as mutations or genetic engineering, or simply allowed to be with no reason given—like everything else in this world they began sometime in the distant and mysterious past, and survive into the present. But here are the ones that feel right to me: Human: unchanged. Arcanite: Taken from the Book of Ages, these post-human servants of the Hierophant have been transformed by ongoing exposure to her arcane power. They look mostly human, but have odd cosmetic changes that mark them as something unusual—skin like polished silver, gemstones embedded in the face, glowing runes instead of eyes, and so on. Beastblooded: Also from the Book of Ages, this race fills the role of part-human, part-beast people found in so many works of this genre. Dwarf: The Engineer’s people. They might have originated in a long-ago age as an offshoot of humanity genetically engineered to operate in harsh environmental conditions. Elf: Make them strange, and a little scary. Forgeborn: The dwarves have figured out how to cobble together and reactivate ancient constructs from the parts they’ve found. Some are mindless machines; but others turn out to be, well, people. Half-Elf: I might call them “elf-touched” or “Wild-touched” and have them be born to human parents in proximity to the Wild. Lizardman: From Book of Ages. Monstrous characters who are extremely good at fighting are an excellent fit for this campaign! Dragonics and half-orcs definitely work, but I see a lot of potential in lizardfolk as the descendants of reptilian alien conquerors. Plus, I like their frenzy power—and the Epic tier feat that lets them move across water, up walls, and on ceilings makes them extra weird. Space Fleet Explorer: From Book of Ages, these are stranded travelers from another universe who live in the hidden village of Commandule near Stardock. I would permit them as PCs very, very rarely because they actually understand the world they’re trapped in, and the items they encounter. I can see how it could be fun to have a character in the group who can say, “I think this is some kind of supercomputer,” but you miss out on the fun of Iron Age heroes trying to figure out a teleporter through trial and error. Available PC Classes I see no problem with including all of the classes from the 13th Age books published by Pelgrane Press, with any magic powers being the result of incredibly advanced technology or mutation (see below). I’m sure a lot of third-party classes also fit—some maybe exceptionally well. Magic Items: Relics of the Forgotten Past Long, long ago, the Ancients created wondrous items that can still be scavenged from ruins and wastelands. The knowledge of how to create these items—or even maintain and repair those that survived—is now lost, perhaps forever. It’s possible that people today use them in ways they were never intended: maybe the metal staff that fires a beam of killing light was originally some kind of cutting tool. True Magic Items In Gamma Draconis, “true magic items” are incredibly sophisticated relics that are virtually indestructible, and house powerful AIs capable of interfacing telepathically with those who are attuned to them. These relics form a network with other relics attuned to the same person. Perhaps the Ancients knew how to wield an unlimited number of relics, but in this post-apocalyptic world PCs are limited to a number of relics equal to their level. Go above that number and the telepathic AI network becomes so powerful they override the wielder’s own will and take control. Once a sufficient number of relics have been disconnected from the network, the user returns to normal. (Yes, this is identical to the game’s chakra system, just worded differently!) One-Use Items Other relics of past ages can only be used once, whether by design, degradation, or because nobody really understands how to properly use them. Potions, oils, and runes become wholly mysterious substances that take effect when ingested or applied to armor or weapons. Items such as the Mask of Face-swapping, Lighting Quagmire, and Featherlight Skirt become ancient devices activated by voice or touch. I would take a lot of these from the lists of consumable items in Book of Loot and Loot Harder for these relics. Limited-Use Items Depending on the kind of campaign you want to run, there could be a third type of relic between the (almost) indestructible true magic items, and one-use consumables. These relics degrade with use until they become junk—though the heroes might be able to find a powerful wizard/technologist who’s capable of repairing or recharging them, or scavenge a new power source from a ruin. Here are three options to handle relic degradation mechanically: Charges: When the heroes find a relic, a player rolls to see how many uses it has left. The GM assigns a die to the relic based on how well it’s been preserved, from 1d4 to 1d20. The relic has a number of uses equal to the result of the roll, and the player using it keeps track. Escalation Roll: The method comes from the Book of Ages for 13th Age. After each battle, roll a d20; if the result is equal to or lower than the value of the escalation die at the end of the battle, the relic is broken, burned out, or otherwise permanently rendered useless. Durability Roll: This method is adapted from Solar Blades & Cosmic Spells, published by Gallant Knight Games. The GM assigns the relic a Durability score from 1 to 5, with 5 representing a fully charged and functional relic. When the GM calls for a Durability Roll, the player rolls a d6 and compares the result to that score. On a result of less than or equal to that number, the item doesn’t deteriorate with use. A result higher than the Durability score means the relic’s Durability is reduced by 1. Once a relic’s Durability score reaches zero, it is unusable. How often the GM calls for Durability Rolls depends on how unforgiving they want their setting to be, ranging from once per use to once per adventure. Spellcasting If “magic” items are actually advanced technology, how do you account for spellcasting? Any or all of these might be sources of spellcasting power in a science fantasy campaign: Icons: Elevate the icons to near-godlike beings enhanced by ancient technology, mutation, or both, and have them bestow a portion of their power on certain followers, allies, and agents. Alien gods and demons: Spellcasters are in contact with immensely powerful, inscrutable being from other dimensions of reality, which this benighted age calls gods and demons. Invoking the names of these beings enables you to wrap reality to your will. Mutation: Some are born with special abilities which they can learn to channel to wondrous and devastating effect. There might be remote villages that consist entirely of such people, or they might be born seemingly at random from otherwise unremarkable parents. Technology: The ancients left behind relics that can permanently change those who use them: substances that rewrite DNA, scrolls that reconfigure the brain, and microscopic nanotechnology that can be controlled and commanded by those who have learned the secret. Invisible servitors: “Spells” are effects produced by near-omnipotent invisible beings whom the caster has learned to command or persuade. They could be other-dimensional creatures, energy constructs created by the ancients, powerful machines buried deep within the earth that can turn thought into reality (see the machines of the Krell in the movie Forbidden Planet), or something entirely different and surprising. Monsters Honestly, pretty much anything goes here. I would probably reskin monsters from mythology to feel more alien—reptilian centaurs, redcaps that are murderous psionic mutants, ogre magi reinterpreted as other-dimensional aliens (which they pretty much already are), and so on. What Else? If you’ve run anything like this, or have other ideas, I hope you’ll share them in the 13th Age Facebook group or on the Pelgrane Press Discord. (If you aren’t on the Discord, you can get an Invite link by dropping us a line at support@pelgranepress.com and asking for one.) “Wade Says” designer symbol by Regina Legaspi Art from The Dying Earth Revivification Folio by Ralph Horsley and Jérôme Huguenin 13th Age combines the best parts of traditional d20-rolling fantasy gaming with new story-focused rules, designed so you can run the kind of game you most want to play with your group. 13th Age gives you all the tools you need to make unique characters who are immediately embedded in the setting in important ways; quickly prepare adventures based on the PCs’ backgrounds and goals; create your own monsters; fight exciting battles; and focus on what’s always been cool and fun about fantasy adventure gaming. Purchase 13th Age in print and PDF at the Pelgrane Shop.