RedSiegfried
First Post
I thought I'd describe here the alternate Icon Relationship system we're using in our 13th Age games and how that's working out. I've seen some similar systems described here and other places but I also haven't seen too many 13th Age threads lately, so here it is.
One of the 13A forum users, Augustus_Rookwood, came up with a cumulative reputation system where you accumulate "favors" that can be used for discrete bonuses as well as story-based advantages. We liked that idea, since occasionally some of the folks in the group had problems coming up with creative uses for Icon relationships. We also wanted something easy to keep track of since we often go a month or more between sessions, but his system was a bit too heavy on the arithmetic and record keeping for our tastes (and we actually made it even more complicated at first by tracking everything in multiples of 13!), so we dumbed it down somewhat and it worked a lot better.
Our homebrew system goes like this. At each full heal up, everyone gets one favor for each relationship point they have (you start the game with three, typically). We actually use casino chips with the Icons' symbols on them to give everyone a physical token for their points, and they flip them over or hand them in when they use them.
You can cash in a favor any time you want, using no action. You can use the favors to get a +5 bonus to a d20 roll, or a reroll, or gain an extra action (action point) or get a consumable or other item you just happen to need, or change the story in some way that the group agrees to, or anything else in a wide range of whatever the group thinks is cool. The only restrictions are your imagination and what the rest of the group will go for.
When you cash in a favor, not only should you make an attempt to justify that use narratively (to whatever extent you find that fun and are feeling imaginative that day), describing how your relationship with that Icon justifies the action, but you then have to roll a d6.
1-4 means that you use the favor as normal.
5 means that you use the favor, but there is also a complication involved. Either the player or the GM can make up a complication on the spot and it can be a turn of events, a change of plot, or a simple mechanical complication/difficulty, or if no one has an idea right now, the GM will make a note and we'll come back to it later.
6 means that you use the favor AND you don't expend the use and can use it again later.
Regardless of how many favors you use between full heal ups, all the favors refresh when you have your next full heal up, so you go back to three (or however many icon relationship points you have).
Much less record keeping for the GM and easier for everyone to understand. Once we started using this system, favors were getting used left and right, and for the most part, people made an effort to explain, for example, why their positive relationship with the Elf Queen allows them to reroll an attack.
Does this seem like too many favors being cashed in? I don't think so. We just see it as more opportunities to explain your relationships with the Icons and have them become part of the story, and that's not a bad thing in 13th Age. It especially works well for the kind of action-oriented high-powered gonzo adventures we have in our group. I could, however, see having all sorts of extra favors not working well if the tone of your game is dark and gritty, where the PCs are always just a step away from dying in horrible ignominy.
Try it out sometime and see what you think.
One of the 13A forum users, Augustus_Rookwood, came up with a cumulative reputation system where you accumulate "favors" that can be used for discrete bonuses as well as story-based advantages. We liked that idea, since occasionally some of the folks in the group had problems coming up with creative uses for Icon relationships. We also wanted something easy to keep track of since we often go a month or more between sessions, but his system was a bit too heavy on the arithmetic and record keeping for our tastes (and we actually made it even more complicated at first by tracking everything in multiples of 13!), so we dumbed it down somewhat and it worked a lot better.
Our homebrew system goes like this. At each full heal up, everyone gets one favor for each relationship point they have (you start the game with three, typically). We actually use casino chips with the Icons' symbols on them to give everyone a physical token for their points, and they flip them over or hand them in when they use them.
You can cash in a favor any time you want, using no action. You can use the favors to get a +5 bonus to a d20 roll, or a reroll, or gain an extra action (action point) or get a consumable or other item you just happen to need, or change the story in some way that the group agrees to, or anything else in a wide range of whatever the group thinks is cool. The only restrictions are your imagination and what the rest of the group will go for.
When you cash in a favor, not only should you make an attempt to justify that use narratively (to whatever extent you find that fun and are feeling imaginative that day), describing how your relationship with that Icon justifies the action, but you then have to roll a d6.
1-4 means that you use the favor as normal.
5 means that you use the favor, but there is also a complication involved. Either the player or the GM can make up a complication on the spot and it can be a turn of events, a change of plot, or a simple mechanical complication/difficulty, or if no one has an idea right now, the GM will make a note and we'll come back to it later.
6 means that you use the favor AND you don't expend the use and can use it again later.
Regardless of how many favors you use between full heal ups, all the favors refresh when you have your next full heal up, so you go back to three (or however many icon relationship points you have).
Much less record keeping for the GM and easier for everyone to understand. Once we started using this system, favors were getting used left and right, and for the most part, people made an effort to explain, for example, why their positive relationship with the Elf Queen allows them to reroll an attack.
Does this seem like too many favors being cashed in? I don't think so. We just see it as more opportunities to explain your relationships with the Icons and have them become part of the story, and that's not a bad thing in 13th Age. It especially works well for the kind of action-oriented high-powered gonzo adventures we have in our group. I could, however, see having all sorts of extra favors not working well if the tone of your game is dark and gritty, where the PCs are always just a step away from dying in horrible ignominy.
Try it out sometime and see what you think.
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