13th Age Core Book

[Gorgon Zee]

5 out of 5 rating for 13th Age Core Book

Honestly, this is so much fun and so clearly a more story-based system than the WOTC D&D stuff, it's hard to think of reasons not to play this if you like the dungeons and dragons genre. The authors are committed 100% to making the game fun, and removing all the accumulated cruft that has been swept along, so the end result is that any rules in this system are only there becaus they make the game better.

 

[Gothikaiju]

4 out of 5 rating for 13th Age Core Book

Characters are mechanically tied into the arc of the campaign, monsters are easy to run (or build) and are lots of fun, and the character options are strong for a first book--if you like casters. Additional sources (both official and homebrew) remedy this problem somewhat.

 

[stefam]

5 out of 5 rating for 13th Age Core Book

13th Age is my group's new game... Easy to run and easy to play. Listen to the podcast of play at BJ Shea’s Geek Nation podcast as Rob Heinsoo GMs and explains the game. Wish there was more content as I am having to port Rise of the Runelords and War of the Burning Sky over to the system. Mechanics are easy, working in the Icons taste some thought.

 

[TheFindus]

5 out of 5 rating for 13th Age Core Book

I really like this book because... in every chapter the designers give sound advice on their rationale behind the mechanics. They offer options for different playstyles. The rules are very transparent, which makes for easy DMing. Classes are different enough mechanically. Classes can be ranked by how easy they are to play (rules-light and administration-light to rules-heavy and high administration). Fluff is fluff, is pointed out as such and can be changed as the group feels necessary. Monsters can easily be tweaked and modified by very simple rules. All monster info is in the statblock. Yet: every monsters has it's own feel. Combat goes pretty quickly. The artwork really conveys the classes and the world (but unfortunately not so much the monsters). The system has very interesting mechanics: one unique thing, backgrounds, icons, escalation die. The book is reasonably priced. The book and its system are probably not for those who dislike so called "Dissociated Mechanics". But who cares?

 

[RichGreen]

5 out of 5 rating for 13th Age Core Book

I love this book! 13th Age is a brilliant mash-up of 3.x, 4e and indie games and is packed with lots of fun ideas like icons, one unique things, backgrounds, the escalation dice and more which are all very portable to other versions of D&D. I'd urge 4e players in particular to give it a go. The book is also written in an intelligent, entertaining conversational style, making for an entertaining read.

 

[Mage of Spellford]

5 out of 5 rating for 13th Age Core Book

After reading the various reviews and visiting Pelgrane Presses website I was intrigued enough to take a chance on buying the book sight-unseen. It did not disappoint, 13th age is a heady mix of storytelling tools with fun and well thought out mechanics. Easy to play as a pickup game and an excellent choice for an extended campaign. The writing is top-notch and it one of the first rpg books (since the Ad&d Dmg) that I have read cover to cover. Awesome game

 

[Critical Hits]

4 out of 5 rating for 13th Age Core Book

13th Age feels like the spiritual successor of 4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons mixed with the storytelling mechanics of games like Fate and Fiasco. Rob Heinsoo and Jonathan Tweet give us a fully refined RPG mixed with a pile of house rules we can drop into any d20 game. While it’s great fun to run, 13th Age’s storytelling system demands much of a GM’s improvisation skills. At $45 plus shipping for the hardcover and PDF package or $25 for the PDF alone, 13th Age isn’t cheap, but you get a whole lot of game in a single beautiful package. If you’re looking for the evolution of D&D mixed with the storytelling of RPGs like Fate, look no further.

 

[Neuroglyph]

4 out of 5 rating for 13th Age Core Book

I have to admit there is a lot to like about 13th Age, and I can see many 4E fans meeting Pathfinder/OGL fans on common ground with this game. While it has some mechanics which are reminiscent of both d20 and 4E, it strives very hard to favor story-telling and role-playing over that of rules crunching, and has some innovations to get players to develop strong and unique characters for a campaign. And it quite surprised me in finding ways to retain a decent amount of complexity in combat and game play without requiring maps and minis, and it still leaves flexibility for game masters to adjudicate and improvise.

 

[LewaKrom]

5 out of 5 rating for 13th Age Core Book

13th Age is a great game if you want to play an RPG that's focused a little more on storytelling, but also want to use the same d20 system that you're comfortable with from D&D. The game encourages creativity, going beyond races and classes, requiring that players come up with a one unique thing (essentially a cool quirk/plot hook) and backgrounds (13th Age's skill system). On the GM's side of the screen, they make running and designing monsters on the fly simple so that you can focus on how you're going to use those icon relationships. The book itself has everything you need to play - races, classes, GM info, monsters, magic items, a default setting, and an adventure.

 

[Forbes]

4 out of 5 rating for 13th Age Core Book

It’s fun, fast, and accessible and encourages imagination from players and GM alike. It bakes some very cool new ideas into the d20 ecosystem while keeping all the major pieces intact. Of the many systems I’ve read recently, it’s one of the best. The demo adventure I was able to play was a lot of fun, from character creation to combat, and left me excited to play more (which is a good sign.)