13th Age - Madness in the Undermarch & At the Shadow of the Hero


Commentary:

Recently I was searching for new RPG systems and I discovered this one. It is published under the open game license (OGL), so you can have access to the basic resources directly at the internet here.

I think this is a good system for my taste specifically and I want to test it. It is action packed as D&D 4ed, with emphasis at background construction, but it is designed to be played completely in a gridless fashion. I am willing to host a small adventure (already created by another user), if enough interest, but certainly not until the end of January. Take that time to know the system if you are interested.

You can find more details about the game here and here. If you are interested, just post here your intention of joining.

Game Details:

The first game is a very generic and small game that I will use to test the game mechanics and use that information to change what will be necessary for the second game. Below the description of the game.

"Undermarch, the great Underworld highway rolling along the earth. Filled with fat merchant wagons, laden mules and travelers from afar all making their way between Underhome, the Dwarven city under mountain called Forge and the great Dwarven outpost of Anvil.

The Longest and most renown of the trade and security routes in all of the Dragon Empire, it is the pride of the Dwarves and relief of many a traveler hoping to avoid entanglements with Orcs, the Hell Marsh residents, or gods forbid, a giant out of the Giantwalk.

But a problem started to appear..."

The second game is also a small game, although much bigger than first one, and certainly not a generic one. It was designed to be an old school game mixed with modern game conventions, focused more on exploration. It will have fights and RPing too, but the main focus is exploration. Below is a brief description that I made for the game.

"Darius McGray, the greatest hero of all time, a mighty paladin, defender of the realm, slayer of monsters, conqueror of empires. During his long career of twenty five years, with only his strength and will, Darius McGray was able to shape the realm and forge what is now the Dragon Empire. The peaceful age that was now lived by all was created by his heroic acts in the past. A true inspiration for all aspiring heroes.

Three centuries already passed and his name is spoken everyday as a synonym for bravery, songs are chanted by minstrels of his deeds, his place was forever written at the annals of history and legends. But his history of heroism was without a closure. Suddenly when he was at the summit of his fame and fortune, he mysteriously disappeared without leaving a single clue. None knows what happened to him. He won a day in his honor and statues throughout the empire to keep forever his memory on the minds of the people.

As a new adventurer, will you be able to follow the path of the greatest hero of all time? And step out of his long shadow?"

Both games require 3 to 5 players. If you join for the first game, your place for the second game will be automatically guaranteed if you wish.

Format Details:

The scenario will look something like this:

X | Position | Status
1 | - | -
2 | - | -
3 | DR, DR, DR | -
4 | BB, LM | -
5 | KG | -
6 | - | -

Legend: Bruenor Battlehammer (BB), Lord McGray (LM), Kandalf, the Great (KG), Drow Raider (DR)

OBS: The number will represent you relative position, the position column will be where your character actually is, and the status will convey other information, like the character is behind a door or have some cover. Characters in the same line will be considered to be close; one line away, nearby; and two lines way, far away. Close characters are also considered nearby for the game mechanics.

Character Creation Rules:

Ability Scores:

One method only:
- Point buy with 28 points.

Sources:

You can use this source for your character:

http://www.13thagesrd.com/

It will be a level 2 character and create your sheet at Mythweavers.

OBS: Only Gearforged and Tiefling are prohibited.

Background:

The better your background, the better your character will be. That is in the rules already, but don't try to cheat.

Starting Gear:

The starting gear for your class, plus a magic item of adventurer level and more 200 GP that you can use to buy anything you want.

Speech Color:

Choose a speech color for your character. These colors will be unavailable: Dark red, Light Red and Black. They will be reserved for DM messages and speeches.

Special Rules:

I will use a mix of old-school rules with modern game conventions, but if players want I can emphasize one aspect over the other.

Posting Frequency:

During normal circumstances, any player must post in 72 hours. During encounters, any player must post in 48 hours, but the sooner is advised. During weekends, you are free to post as normal, but Sunday will not be considered for the deadline.

In case you cannot do a post within the time, you can nominate a player to move your character for the specified amount of time. Use this format at the OOC thread. You are allowed to use Light Red for this announcement.

True_ Believer nominates Unbeliever his puppeteer for this round.

In case you will stay more time away, but you have intention of resuming the game. Your character can be put in stasis for the specified amount of time or given control for other player. Use this format at the OOC thread. You are allowed to use Light Red for this announcement.

True_ Believer will be away for this week.

I will warn the players when I need some time away at the same manner. Inactive players will be flagged with this icon if they miss more than one round. In this case his position will be offered to other player.

Posting Format:

Never use inline dice when making dice rolls. The raw number of the dice is important for 13th age mechanics, making it easier to see the result.

Where to post:

All actions from characters should be posted IC under a spoiler bar. OOC is for everything else.

Probable Players:

Tequilasaurus: Xyrca Dovwen

Shockwave: Welker One-Tusk

True_Believer: Ludwig von Strickhausen/John Doyle

Other Relevant Threads:

Madness in the Undermarch

When you say this;

Is that 'Someone has built an adventure that I will DM' or 'I need someone else to build an adventure but I will run it'. I'm assuming the first but clarification never hurts.

The first option. Someone has built an adventure that I will DM, just adding some details and my style.

Hmm, not much love for 13th age. It seems I need to advertise more. The system has many tropes similar to d&d 4ed rules, if you know them you will be comfortable since the beginning. I will probably have to use some 4 ed rules where they miss at 13th age rules (rules are incomplete at some points), and allow some 4ed rituals with minor changes for compatibility.

The main differences are: (1) there is a certain break at symmetry for classes while still making balanced classes; (2) the battles flow faster due to escalation dice, better at-will attacks and miss damage; (3) less effects and modifiers to keep track; (4) gridless combat, which makes encounters easier to make, while still tactical; (5) background is really important because skills derive directly from it; (6) monsters are even more interesting than 4ed monsters, if that is possible.

Can we get a general heads-up about what the campaign is about? Good adventure hook might catch a few players.

I am ambivalent.

Unfortunately no. I downloaded 4 free adventures, and they range from 2 to 12 encounters. All very brief, I don't know exactly which I will use, but probably something with 4 or 5 encounters. This is just for me and the interested players to get a feel of the system, then If I have liked it I will try to create something of my own, but from now on I will not try anything with an epic scale, but only small adventures.



This tells much and little.

I am interested, but I have no idea what my schedule might be like, so I can't really give an answer either way.

I keep looking at this, so I guess by definition, I am interested.

I could be convinced to try this. Got a few games I've signed up for off site so will have to see how many I get accepted in before seeing how busy I'll be, but consider me a potential party member.

The prospect of premade adventures by default makes me wary. It just feels like wasted potential.
The 4th-ed esque action system that 13th Age utilizes appears like a very combat centric mechanic, when combat usually is the least interesting part of a game.
d20 is an inferior dice system.

I want to play more.
I want to play things that are a little more indie.
The "important figure" system is kind of cool, and I like the "this makes you special" trait.

At least 3 interested, that is enough for me to try to start something. More in the coming days.

I already decided which adventure to use. Ideally I would use a small level 1 adventure to start the game, because I want to create a level 2 adventure, having a normal progression this way. The problem is I don't have a level 1 adventure that fits the characteristics I want, so I decided I will use a level 3 adventure for level 2 characters making some adjustments for compatibility. A very small adventure, maybe 4 to 6 encounters. Then I will follow this small adventure with another level 2 adventure of my own, that I already started brewing. Also a small adventure, but probably 2 or 3 times bigger than the first one. I will use this opportunity to familiarize myself with the rules and make adjustments to my game as necessary. Any player that join the first adventure will have his place automatically assured for the second adventure if he wish.

The first adventure is called Madness in the Undermarch and my adventure has the temporary name of At the Shadow of the Hero.

Open!

I don't think I'll be able to play. Which is a real shame, because it looks pretty cool.

Sign me up, I guess. With a note that I'll be camping from the 15th to the 19th of this month, so if you start soonish, I'll be absent for 4 days, if that's acceptable. Otherwise someone else can have my spot.

Thanks, but don't quit so soon. The game will take a while to start anyway and I don't see myself starting it before 14 of January.



No problem at all.

Using this post as a placeholder, but do have a question that can be answered.

Will there be races you prefer not to be used based on the starting campaign you have chosen?

Only Gearforged and Tiefling are prohibited. The first one because it is too complex and the second one because it demands a custom power. Of course standard races will be better accepted, but only these two races will be prohibited for use.

http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.p ... id=1089597

In progress. Family killed during a robbery, orphaned, adopted by local church. Served as a priest there though younger years, later squired to his de facto father, who was a knight of the church. His father/knight was turned into a vampire by a vampire lord he was attempting to destroy.

Details from here are dependent on campaign specifics, and I still don't understand icons.

Also would like to call dibs on Purple as a speech color.