Character Creation: 13th Age

Time to make the donuts character.

The Game: 13th Age

The Publisher: Pelgrane Press

Degree of Familiarity: None

Books Required: Just the one

 

Strange beast, this. It's a fantasy d20-based RPG, clearly meant for people who like D&D, but recognize that the various systemic incarnations of D&D are kinda shit. So it talks about having some indie-game inspirations and mechanics, and the result is...actually really intriguing.

I found myself thinking, while reading this game, that I'm not sure anymore what a fantasy game has to do to hook me. Like, I've run a lot more fantasy in the last couple of years than I ever have previously - Blue Rose, Shadow of the Demon Lord, and now Cairn - and they all have interesting and rich settings and simple but robust mechanical frameworks. So I guess that's it? I like the dial set to "enough," apparently.

Well, anyhow, 13th Age. One of the big points of this game is the "icons," the powerful, nigh-godlike characters in the setting, any of whom could usher in the end of the world. All of the PCs have a relationship with at least one of them, although the relationship probably isn't close enough to merit them appearing onscreen. Characters also have a "one unique thing" that sets them apart from everyone else, and I have to say I love the amount of detail that "one unique thing" gets in the text.

It's not uncommon, especially in indie games that are created by one or two people, for key concepts to get underexplained because there aren't enough eyes on the text and no one ever has to suss out the game without the creator of said game there to explain it. 13th Age, though, is easy to figure out and the game doesn't even bother trying to separate the authors from the reader. They talk right to you, explain how things have worked in their own games and why, and unabashedly assume you know what they're talking about when they say "3E" and "games about vampires". After reading a bazillion "what is a roleplaying game? Well, it's kinda like Cops n' Robbers..." intros, it's sort of nice to have a game that starts out at the grad-school level, as it were.

OK, moving along. I actually have a bit of a concept, here. I want to play a ranger, but I don't want to make an Aragorn-like ranger (human but wannabe elf). I want to make a larger, thicker, kinda grumbly ranger, and that to me suggests half-orc. That means I get a +2 to Strength or Dexterity, and I get Lethal as a racial power (once per battle I can reroll a melee attack).

Class, I already know I want to be a ranger. I get three class talents, but I want an animal companion and that eats two slots, so I just get one more. I'll take double melee attack; I picture this guy with two axes chopping away, rather than firing arrows from the trees. His animal companion, likewise, is a goddamn boar. I get a bonus to either Strength, Dexterity, or Wisdom, but I can't take the same one as for race (which I haven't decided upon yet).

And now we generate ability scores. I could roll randomly, but eh, I think I'll do point-buy today. Actually, I don't even need to do that much work, because they put in a little grid with all the possible arrays. That's marvelous.

Well, do I want to spread points out a bit, or do I want to specialize like I usually do? One of the nice things about this game is that attacks and so on aren't made with just one stat. I think I'll go 16, 14, 14, 12, 10, 8.

I'll put the 16 in Strength, the 14s in Con and Dex, the 12 in Wisdom, the 8 in Intelligence, and the 10 in Charisma. And then I'll use my racial bonus to jack Strength to 18, and the class bonus to up Wisdom, I think.

That means Hit Points are 27, Armor Class is 17 (assuming light armor, which is what I get), Physical Defense is 13, Mental Defense is 10 (ugh). I get 10 Recoveries because my animal buddy gives me two extra.

And now here we are at one unique thing. Let's see, here. I want my half-orc to be from a plains or mildly forested area, and there's plenty of that on the map. There's a place called "Bitterwood" that doesn't have any detail in the book, but it's got proximity to First Triumph, which is a hellhole conquered by the Crusader. I like the idea of my boar being able to smell hellholes or root out corruption like a normal pig can truffles. Sounds good.

Now, icon relationships. I get three dice to put into these. I'll say I have a negative relationship with the Crusader (1 die), a conflicted relationship with the Orc Lord (1 die), and a positive relationship with the High Druid (1 die).

Backgrounds! I like these. Instead of picking skills, we pick backgrounds, which are then used to add to skill rolls. I get 8 points, max 5 in any one. Well, I'll take Hunter of Bitterwood at 4. I kinda want something related to the whole "sniffing out hell" thing, so I'll take "demon tracker" at 2, and then I'll take "nomad of the plains" at 2.

I get one feat at adventurer level. Let's see. I'll take Strong Recovery, so I can reroll one recovery die. Since I recover for two, that seems useful. And finally, gear. I have two hand axes, a short bow, a set of light armor, a cloak with a hood (standard for rangers), a sack of pig treats, and a brush made of rowan wood and wire that I use to brush Gornik, my boar.

My ranger's name is Cek (all the Hunters of Bitterwood have monosyllabic names). He found Gornik wallowing in the rancid muck of a battlefield, and while he was saturated with the blood of demons and other horrors, he wasn't mutated or possessed or anything like that. Cek took the boar in and raised him, and now he's pretty goddamned big, but still something of a softie (you know, unless you do something stupid like threaten Cek, then he gets scary real fast). Cek is tall, wide, and a lot more chatty than most rangers, but he's chatty in an abrasive, short, brusque kind of way. He's got brown eyes and patchy black hair, and wrinkles his nose when he's thinking or annoyed.

And that'll do it, I think.