Using 13th Age Icons in other settings

[Dungeoneer]

Icons are one of the major new innovations of 13th Age and they are pretty core to the system. I would argue that if you are running 13th Age without Icons you aren't running it at all. I am very interested in running a 13th Age game, icons and all. But I'm not crazy about the Dragon Empire setting and I am already running a game based in Points of Light.

So just pick out some major players in Points of Light to be Icons, right? That was my first thought. After all, 13th Age icons are designed to fit most fantasy worlds. Just make the Dwarf King the Lord of Hammerfast and the High Druid the leader of Harken's Heart.

However as I've delved into the 13th Age system I've realized that the Icons aren't just a random collection of high level NPCs. They have to be actively working towards goals. Their influence has to extend to every corner of the world. They have to have, in short, agency.

You might be deep in the bowels of the deepest dungeon in Thunderspire, but when one of your players roles a six on their 'Elf Queen' relationship you've got to pull an Elf Queen-themed twist out of your butt. That's not hard to do in the Dragon Empire, where every single piece of the setting relates in some way to an icon. But the Nentir Vale is supposed to be sort of an untamed wilderness with scattered, well, points of light. It's harder to see how to reconcile that with omnipresent Icons.

Any ideas about how to do this? Have you integrated Icons into other settings? How did you manage that?

Looking for ideas!

 

[waderockett]

I recommend you watch this interview with Rob Heinsoo just posted by Sly Flourish. The first question is about icon relationships, and Rob says:

The biggest trap in the world is to feel like you must account for every icon relationship result. If you treat it that way, you are headed for hurting your head -- and maybe not helping the game. They really are good as a tool for either when you're stuck and don't know what's going to happen next and need inspiration, or when a particular player character needs help and/or deserves help. It's also good as a reminder of what's important in the world.

Also, the icons don't have to be omnipresent but their influence can still be felt. Maybe you will never use that 6 result for the Lord of Hammerfast you rolled at the beginning of the session -- but maybe you'll find an opportunity during play. ("As you meet the angry gaze of the hostile elves, you recognize one of them. She was an emissary to the Lord of Hammerfast's court last year, and she cleaned you out in a friendly game of cards.")

 

[Manabarbs]

I think that another thing that really helps when trying to run 13th Age in an alternate setting is, rather than picking a group of icons that feel like the biggest movers and shakers in the entire setting, pick a group of icons that will all have direct influence on the campaign. Flea-Needle the Goblin Chieftain and The Church of Pelor, God of Healing, Sunlight and Agriculture certainly don't have the same amount of influence globally, but they might have the same amount of influence locally. That's an extreme example to be sure, but it's okay to have icons that don't have comparable levels of global pull if they have comparable levels of local pull and are interested in the goings-on of the adventure.

If and when the campaign changes scope, you might have to let people adjust their icon relationships, but that's something I think can be worthwhile sometimes regardless of the setup you're using.

Finally, it can sometimes be an interesting source of story ideas to try to figure out why an unlikely icon would care about a particular set of goings-on. Why would the druid fellowship possibly care about the trial of a wrongly-imprisoned vandal? What does the archmage know about the situation that he'd pay special attention to a series of bandit raids?

 

[Dungeoneer]

I recommend you watch this interview with Rob Heinsoo just posted by Sly Flourish. The first question is about icon relationships, and Rob says:

Thanks for pointing me at that interview! I hadn't seen it before. Really great ideas in there.

Based on that interview and my own thoughts, here are a few ways to incorporate Icon rolls into a session:

• On the roll, give the player an immediate boon.
• Seed the dungeon with NPCs who can be given allegiances based on Icon rolls.
• Players receive spirit communiques from their associated Icon.
• Offer the player to reinterpret a past event in the light of new, Icon-related information. This could give them a boon or simply open up new possibilities.
• When a player fails a critical roll, offer them a chance to leverage their Icon relationship to gain a success or partial success.
• Use 5's as a chance to negotiate with the player.
• When in doubt, just ask the player how their Icon relationship affects this situation.
• Don't feel that you have to resolve every Icon roll that session.

I like these ideas. Having concrete, simple suggestions like this makes me feel much more confident that I can incorporate the players' Icon rolls into my games.

I'm starting to think that the tack I'm going to take for my PoL campaign is that powerful forces outside the Nentir Vale are vying for influence over it. It's a relatively un-corrupted new frontier so various kingdoms, empires and more nefarious forces are trying to stake their claim. I also have an idea to relocate the Blood and Lightning adventure to the top of Thunderspire Mountain.