13th Age is a d20 based RPG put out by Pelgrane Press, due to be released in March 2013. It has a fascinating linage of designers, primarily Rob Hiensoo and Jonathan Tweet. For those in the know, these are the lead designers of D&D's 4th and 3rd editions, respectively. This is like Prince and Jimi Hendrix coming together to do an album, so I was surprised to just discover this myself. Why this isn't getting more press, I don't know; since based on the preview PDF (pre order), this is a solid design and take on a d20 game, with a lot of what we liked about 3rd and 4th editions all in one game.
This is a d20 based game, maxing out at 10 levels. This is an interesting choice, but understandable. It seems that one level in TA equals about three in D&D, at least in character power. For those of you coming from D&D4, all the parts that require a computer are gone, which I thank the gods for! It is a simpler game, stripped down to the bare essence of a d20 based game, with the powers, magic, and monsters you would come to expect. The differences lie in character creation (backgrounds), and the way the characters interact with the world (icons and the relationship system).
There are a significant amount of differences here to set it apart form the sea of d20 clones, George doesn't agree, but I see quite a few evolutionary steps, along with a couple revolutionary ones. One of the most interesting is your base damage is equal to your weapon damage per level of character. A fifth level fighter using a longsword does 5d8 + stat mods. Spells can be upgraded with upgrade slots every level, which is another cool thing (a max-ed out magic missile does 10d6 - yowza). There are a bunch of things that scale like that, from spell damage to hit points, so it does definitely feel different. The difference in power between levels is dramatic, which is nice.
If I had to pin it down, I would say it feels like if someone took 3rd Ed D&D and made a scaling MMO system out of it - but retained the 3rd Ed feel. Where 4th Ed went off the rails with it's thousands of powers and computer required system, this is closer to the book, and keeps everything simple, while still allowing for the MMO power scale curve to take place. It does not feel like the MMO-ish 4th Ed, but rather a like a cool version of the Final Fantasy SNES game's power curve applied to a 3rd Ed ruleset.
The world is great, if you likes the whole 'points of light' world crafting of 4th Ed, you are in for a treat. Here we have 'points of light 2.0' with epic (godlike) beings that live on the world, a faction and relationship system, a destiny thing going on, unique backgrounds, and an avoidance of infinite planes of existence. The world is split into three parts, the normal world, an underworld, and a plane-of-air style place up above. Ad nauseam wheels, parallel worlds, infinite earths, and other tropes are not mentioned here - you can safely assume heaven, hell, the realms of the gods, and everything else can be reached in the normal world by foot, hoof, boat, or wing.
The world also has normal area, champion areas, and 'even the thorns on the rose bush will kill you' epic areas - really cool. I like this feel, where places in the world are catastrophically dangerous - you don't get that in Pathfinder or other games. Even D&D4 reduced that dynamic in later books, so it is fun to see it come back. It allows for interesting world setups, such as, "The entryway to Hell is on the map, over there, knock yourself out." If you are looking for a spiritual successor to D&D4's fascinating world setup, you will find it here. George is pumped about this setup as well, and we both agree, it is one of the best parts about this game.
We will be play testing this more as we read through things, and eagerly await our pre-order book. Until now, the quest for "What comes after 4th Ed?" seemed to be a two-way race between Pathfinder and D&D5. Now, the best of both of those games comes together and throws a hat into the ring. 13th Age is an underdog in this race, but it is an important game - both in design, creativity, and history. Watch for this, it is not just another D&D clone, it is actually exciting and dare I say it (for a d20 game), cool.
Releases March 2013, pre-order on the publisher's site, and receive the preview PDF for free.
