Your best 13th Age thing

[BigbyBear]

If players can't think of backgrounds, you could do a fill in the blank.

Before becoming an adventurer, I...
What nobody knows about me is...
The first time I got in a fight I was...

For the One Unique Thing, it's simply "what sets you apart from every other member of your race and class?"

 

[mlund]

Wow, it's ridiculously hard to pick just one. Background, One Unique Thing, and Fail Forward all feed into an overall concept that makes them excellent: the character-driven campaign. Instead of pursuing XP's and GP's, 13th Age characters are built from the ground up with a goals of world-shaping.

Backgrounds and One Unique Thing provide incentive for players to tell us more about their character's back-plot and thus more about the world. Fail forward relies on the very real threat of losses higher than HP, GP, or even XP. Feasible things can be accomplished, even despite bad luck and poor skills - the opportunity cost is simply higher in terms of advancing campaign goals.

- Marty Lund

 

[pemerton]

I already voted, but now that I've nearly finished reading the rules something else I would mention is the rule for fleeing. I like it.

 

[Ratskinner]

Pick one?! You are an evil, evil person. The number of times I clicked a different choice before pushing the vote button was obscene.

I'll second that motion.

 

[Blue]

Yeah, a combination of "here's a social contract I won't just kill you if you're in over your heads" to promote risk taking and stay away from campaign-ending TPKs, plus a frank discussion of campaign setbacks as the repercussions.

 

[Systole]

OUTs are a third choice, but my choice was Backgrounds. It's like skills and traits have been rolled up into the ultimate character customization.

My second choice is the lack of racial attribute penalties/addition of class attribute bonuses, because it opens up a ton of character concepts that just don't work in Pathfinder.

 

[Imaro]

\
My second choice is the lack of racial attribute penalties/addition of class attribute bonuses, because it opens up a ton of character concepts that just don't work in Pathfinder.

Is there a reason this is specific to Pathfinder... or did you mean it in a more general D&D sense?

 

[Systole]

PF is the system that I play most often these days and that I have the most familiarity with. No other reason than that.

 

[RevTurkey]

I like the quality of the writing. I have also been impressed with support from Pelgrane Press. My favourite thing about it is that it plays without minis. I am mainly a fan of old school style gaming but I enjoyed 4th edition with the main caveat of not enjoying it's mechanical connection to the tactical combat grid. 13th Age fixes that and more...it gives me a modern game that I can enjoy alongside my crusty, rusty old books. Big thumbs up. I have been gaming for 30 years and this is one of the best games I have bought.

 

[BigbyBear]

This past weekend I ran a 13th age session for a small group of friends and coworkers.

There favorite thing actually came from the 13th age Organized Play module, Crown of the Lich King. The Montage. Here's the rules for it:

Go round the table and ask each player: 'Describe an obstacle that the party encountered but defeated here.'
Then turn to the player to their left: 'You were the one to get the party past that. How did you succeed?

I used this for escaping from a prison and crossing an island to get to the last "dungeon."

Out of the book, they loved that their backgrounds actually meant something. It instantly got them giving stories of their background. An their ICON relationships, they didn't want to "find a boat captain" they wanted to use their contacts with the emperor to find a captain.

Very cool how even the number crunchers got into telling the story of their characters.