Can Organizations Be Icons

[Dragonhelm]

So I was kicking around the idea of using 13th Age for Dragonlance, and I was having trouble figuring out who the icons might be.

Then a friend of mine suggested that maybe organizations could function as icons. In a world where the organizations are the movers and shakers, would it not make sense for them to be the icons?

 

[Markn]

Absolutely, we are playing a D&D campaign and we are using organizations instead of specific people. I think it works very well!

Edit: Let me clarify, we are playing 13th Age in a D&D world and organizations as icons works great!

 

[Morrus]

Very much so! I've heard of plenty of folks doing exactly that!

 

[Connorsrpg]

Exactly how I used to use it. The mechanics are basically a chance to bring in a PC's connection to someone/something from their past.

I could see Icons being Governments/Leaders; Groups of deities (or individual ones); Organisations (inc magic schools, merc bands etc); Important NPCs; Tribes/Large clans; Factions; etc. I could even see a campaign where they can be ANY of these in the one setting.

Wouldn't be hard for the DM to come up with some relations between the few.

 

[mkill]

In the default campaign setting, the Icons are pretty much stand-ins for the organization(s) they spearhead. Especially at low-levels, PCs are much more likely to have a connection to members of that organization than the Icon itself.

For example, a positive relationship with the Emperor could mean you are enlisted in the Imperial Army. Your direct connections are probably limited to your superiors. However, the Imperial Army is just one organization serving him. You may as well be a court noble in Axis. Or the son of a small town council member.

I'm planning a Planescape 13th Age campaign where I'll use the icon mechanics with Sigil factions.

 

[Scrivener of Doom]

Hmmm, that's interesting.

That would work well for the way I run my Forgotten Realms games with a heavy emphasis on canon organisations - the Harpers, Netherese Shadovar, Red Wizards of Thay, the Zhentarim - and organisations and factions of my own creation. Maybe I will take a look now....

 

[WampusCat43]

Check over on Candlekeep - there was a brief thread about just this.

 

[Evenglare]

There's quite a few people playing 13th age dragonlance, you can check it out over on the nexus http://www.dragonlanceforums.com/forums/ . I had quite a few icons drawn up for a campaign I never got to play. Essentially I made several icons and cherry picked the relevant ones for whatever game we would play. One interesting thing that I had to deal with is that I made the blue lady an icon, and it was tricky because I didn't want anyone to know who she way (most of the group hadn't read the books) so I had to decide how I wanted the icon to play out in the game, giving relationships... but not giving away the identity.

 

[M.L. Martin]

The FAQ put out by Pelgrane Press makes it explicit that yes, organizations can be Icons. And you can go even farther afield--they also posted a 13th Age of Camelot hack that used chivalric values as Icons.

 

[Wraith Form]

I'm planning a Planescape 13th Age campaign where I'll use the icon mechanics with Sigil factions.

GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!!! (a/k/a +1, I agree, good job, etc.)