I am on record as saying I do not like D&D style games.

I am also on record as saying I like 13th Age, a D&D spin-off written by D&D veterans.

Inconsistent?

Contradictory?

Possibly, but it for me, it is a case of what I generally dislike in D&D style games, is applied in a more focussed, relevant and acceptable format for me in 13th Age. I guess it’s a case of if I am going to rub against my normal grain, then I want to go full grind, and revel in the difference.

Specifically;

Levels

Levels are used in a few RPG’s as a logical, clean and controllable measure of game “height”, but are inherently fake. Many RPG’s that came after D&D discarded the level dynamic, preferring to embrace incremental skill and ability increase.

13A however, handles levels in a few ways that help me to deal with them.

Levels are reduced to ten only, allowing you to use each as the rough span of a light weight novel (so basically 1 level per campaign “book” or year in serial format). This can be a complete short campaign, a group of thematically linked adventures or part of a larger campaign. This effectively makes levels a system of story layering, in a less micro managed way.

There are no experience points, removing overt accountancy and replacing it with more abstract, GM driven, turning points (see above). For the GM this means pacing replaces player bean counting and system manipulation.

Levels really mean something, but they are also flexible enough to be used as a guide only. You can fast track them or not, but either way, each level should mark a memorable period of a saga, not just one of many speed humps in the career of a character (see both points above).

Levelling up can also be applied incrementally, which is not new, but is called out. What you gain per level is not a broad gamut of detailed improvements. It is an increase in base capabilities with a few feats, class features etc, that can be awarded as suits pre or post levelling. Spell casters are also streamlined here, not learning a ton of spells, but making the ones they have more powerful. I always struggled with the D&D model, feeling it was too much at once and too micro managed, but 13A calls it out loud and clear for what it is, a story growth point.

Characters in 13A are pre-destined to be movers and shakers, so somehow the levelling dynamic fits better for me. It makes the game feel like a TV or book series, helping define the style of game 13A is. If you want to simulate the book series, leveling will be at scenario end, for a more TV serial feel, maybe after 3-4 episodes.

Hit Points

Most RPG’s that I have had anything to do with have a form of wound or damage points. Most of my favourites though, go into more detail when it comes to damage, making wounds and incapacity scarier and more meaningful (and vastly more realistic). Traveller for exmaple reduces actual characteristics, d100 games have mechanics for limb loss or permanent scarring. D&D’s “soft” Hit Point totals have always been too abstract for me and characters feel less fragile, especially with recoveries and short term heal-ups, but in 13A it fits the OTT heroic feel. Rarely is our hero layed up for months at a time recovering from a lucky hit landed in a pub brawl, nor are they scarred in an unsightly manner. Warhammer 4e can inflict both of these in a flash, almost incidentally, in 13A a telling scar or impediment is very much a players prerogative, maybe even a “one unique thing”.

Characters, as cited above, are pre-destined. They are standout heroes, like the Winchesters in Supernatural, Harry Dresden, John Carter, Indiana Jones or Tarzan, who can get beaten up, but do not suffer breakages, long periods of down time or inconvenient impediments. Only in this high octane environment of Conan style heroic sagas does this work, so in 13A, I would not have it any other way.

This is a big shift for me. I love d100 style games with their realism over “squishy” abstract games, but in this case, I feel it is part and parcel of the difference and the very reason to have this game in my collection. Another first is my interest in Runequest/Glorantha, which up till now has held no interest what so ever (even as a d100 buff!). This feel fits Glorantha well, so 13A Glorantha is on its way (so much for down scaling).

If I am only going to have one D&D style game in my collection, this is it, because it is stereotypical D&D done on an epic scale.

Classes

I find classes, much like the afore mentioned mechanics above, to be fundamentally unrealistic. The limitations classes force on players are fine for one-off character roles, but whole swathes of the population drafted into these stereotypes seemed strained and pointlessly restrictive. Give me a skill and career system anyday.

Multi classing only adds insult to injury. Why have a structured class system only to find ways to subvert it?

So what is so different about 13A?

Apart from the imaginative implementation of classes in 13A (they all play very differently to each other, even to their own sub-classes), there are other considerations that help them sit well with me.

First up, as talked about already, the common theme here is where the characters fit in their world. Class is only a part of that. Each class is tightly honed, even extreme, which for some reason makes the whole class thing more relevant. As I have said before, 13th Age focusses D&D concepts in their own space perfectly for me.

The 13A character starts off as a powerful force, a minor legend in their cultural or geographical eco system who has risen to “local legend” status. Instead of being just a thief in their city they are the thief, well known/infamous, then they become part of a small group of similar standout characters called upon to do legendary things, not a loose guild of pre-structured careers.

The characters become paragons of a type, which seems a more logical expression of the class restriction, but still with enough room to be very different to others. Instead of restrictions, class characteristics become defining elements of this story, legend and character, not something the next similar character they meet down the road can share. You are a head above most, but on the occasion you meet someone with the same calling, there is room for them to shine differently.

Add to this the “background” and “one unique thing” mechanics and classes become only a single tool, if a sharp tool, of a fully developed character, rather than a looser confinement.

To nutshell it, classes in 13A are extreme personifications of paragon hero types, something to aspire to, not a dime a dozen grouping like abstract careers or guilds. They are unique enough to stand out, but flexible enough so no two are alike and many other forces are as powerful to character development.

Presentation and other stuff

I can honestly say, I have never read any roleplaying books that have stimulated my imagination as much as these, which goes for pretty much any of them. Ironially, I did not click with the art style at first, usually my downfall, but the overall thme and writing style hooked me and acceptance came belatedly.

Some of my favourite characters literally sprang off the page as I read an entry from The Stone Thief, or the Bestiaries*. Even a small entry in one of the Loot books can spark an idea.

Randomly grabbing any book, opening to an equally randomly selected page and reading what is found can be as rewarding as slogging through a whole other book or chapter. I have to admit here, I dislike reading long winded, dry rules and have been struggling to find a series of books that can keep my interest for long.

The openness and transparency of the writing, the humour and creative license granted to all involved to add to story telling, to then make your own using the mechanics supplied, comes through time and time again.

I think that part of my issue stems from a desire to write rather than read. These books have a balanced amount of both. You never feel like a rules interpreter or lawyer, more a disseminator and custodian.

I eagerly await a new 13A book simply for the read and happily re-read the ones I have.

*

So, for a gamer who has never taken to D&D (and I have owned some or all of Advanced, 2nd, 3/3.5-Pathfinder, 4th and 5th editions), why is 13th Age a keeper for me? Basically because if I am in the mood for a D&D fix, generally the opposite of where my moods lie, but possible, this does it better than any other, actually focussing the elements I generally dislike rather than softening them.

Next I would like to rate the different 13A resources I have.

*Two characters I have created as support players for new players in the Stone Thief campaign are a White Dragonborn cemetery custodian (Necromancer), who had his charge swallowed by the Stone Thief while he was absent and a Dwarf made Construct, built to protect a sacred tomb, woken after eons of semi-sleep to do just that. It then left to the under world as its makers are long gone, but is compelled to return to its tomb when the pesky Stone Thief ate that as well.

Story lines like this are part in parcel of 13A. You are encouraged to think big, to make a real impact on the story, shaping it, not just reacting to it. This empowers the player, but also allows the GM something to work with.