# In the Maw of Madness

##### A 13th Age game

\page

# Introduction This is the player packet for my 13th Age campaign: The Hungry Sea, a D&D style campaign with a Spice Islands style setting. Magical islands, adventure on the high seas, island politics, and creatures of madness all await you. ## System: 13th Age 13th Age is an evolution of 4th Edition D&D, written by Rob Heinsoo and Jonathan Tweet, both of whom are pretty exceptional game designers. It takes some of the cool parts of 4E and mashes in some narrative tweaks. The rules are here: https://www.13thagesrd.com/, but that's a whole rulebook and you really don't need to go down that rabbit hole. That's what this packet is for! ### What's Familiar A lot of 13th Age will look familiar to you. Success and failure are generally determined by modified d20 rolls. Effectiveness is generally determined by d4s, d6s, d8s, d10s, and d12s. Most of what your character can do is determined by their Class, some is determined by their Race, and it's possible that you have an extra trick or two determined by general Feats. There are strange and wonderous places, often filled with monsters, and smashing evil in the face is a tried and true method of solving problems. There are magical items and ancient artifacts. Heroes cast spells and swing swords and solve puzzles and execute strategies. There is exploration and discovery, and ideally an emotional journey for each of your characters. There is heroism - and notably, 13th Age is more explicitly heroic than 5E. Your characters are legendary heroes in the making, right from 1st level on. ``` ``` ### What's Different There are two big new things and one largely changed thing in 13th Age, and all of these changes are geared towards creating more narrative hooks and impact for your characters. #### One Unique Thing Every PC has an OUT (One Unique Thing). It's an entirely narrative element that is yours (the player's) to create. This is an opportunity for you to come up with something special for your character that is not covered by the game mechanics. And, in fact, it explicitly cannot be covered by game mechanics. Your OUT can't have mechanical effects. So no 'I can fly' or 'My eyes shoot +5 laser beams'. Your OUT, however, absolutely can affect the setting. 'I am the last student of the Daziristani Sword Saints' is a perfectly reasonable OUT. It establishes a few things: there is (or was) an group known as the Darizistani Sword Saints. They once took students. They don't anymore. And you are the last. There aren't any, in the entire world, who came after you (unless it's super interesting for your OUT to be challenged later in play). You don't need to check a list for organizations I've created for you. Your OUT automatically creates that new thing and puts it in the world. > ##### Examples from Sam's 5E game > Our D&D PCs can serve as examples for OUTs. > > * **Carcer**: I have a demon imprisoned in my heart. > * **Solomon**: I have married and left 7 spouses. > * **Rabi**: I have a twin I cannot remember. > * **Rabi** *(Alternate)*: I am the only child of a fire elemental. > * **Elias**: I am lost in time, a fugitive from 250 years ago. \page

#### Ages & The Icons As the title suggests, 13th Age is about the ... thirteenth age. There have been twelve previous ages, each ending in some catastrophe, calamity, apocalypse, or revolutionary change. In each of those ages, there were **Icons**. These are heroes and villains of such power, influence, and longevity that they have become archetypes. They are not gods. They all started out as (more or less) mortal beings. But through their exploits, skills, cunning, magic, power, and sheer unwillingness to die, they have become something resembling immortal You have a relationship with them. In fact, you probably have relationships with more than one of them. These relationships will give you help, items, and headaches (because relationships go both ways and not all relationships are healthy). Think about which Icons are most interesting to you, and which might add spice to your character concept. Your relationships can be friendly, complicated, or hostile so don't limit yourself to just allies. #### Icons **The Dragon Emperor**: Ruler of the human empire, master of 1000 dragons. Lawful, but lavish.
**The Queen of Stars**: Ruler of the elves. Sensual and sorcerous. Steeped in ritual, politics, and wisdom.
**The Mountain Lord**: Ruler of the dwarves. Considers anything made by Dwarves to be his by right.
**The Archmage**: What you'd expect. Calmed the spirits of the Hungry Sea. Terrifyingly powerful, generally benign.
**The High Druid**: Also what you'd expect. Resents the magical engineering of the Archmage. Likes halflings.
**The Priestess**: Unique among the Icons, this is the first Age in which there has ever been a Priestess. Represents all faiths, not one. Widely beloved, equally mysterious.
**The Three**: Dragons. Blue, Green, and Black. The originals of their respective hues. Ordinarily evil and covetous, now bound in service to the **Dragon Emperor** and rulers of Jade.
**The Prince of Shadows**: Thief, rogue, rake, scoundrel, charmer. Steals impossible things, never the same thing twice.
**The Leviathan**: The most ancient. Giant, benign, mystical whale. Kept occupied sealing the rift beneath the sea so that creatures of madness don't invade the world.
**The Dreadnought**: Admiral of the Iron Fleet. Kills monsters on the high seas. Righteous, but entirely devoid of mercy. Fond of conscription, collateral losses, happy to pay every cost for victory.
**The Delver**: Seeker of secrets. Experimenter on the innocent. Mistress of aberrations. Leader of cults.
**The Tempest**: Rebel, iconoclast, breaker of kingdoms. Represents the wildness of the seas, but not in a nice way.
**The Drowned King**: The Wizard King of the 1st age. Now, lord of the undead and ruler of his sunken kingdom.

#### Backgrounds The third difference is more of an evolution than addition. Characters in the 13th Age do not have skills. Instead, they have backgrounds. Backgrounds are custom created bundles of assumed competency. If you were a circus performer, then you don't need to take acrobatics, athletics, animal handling, and other skills to represent that. Instead, you just take the background *Star of the Zend'Orlan Travelling Circus* and roll that background whenever it's relevant to what you're trying to do. Backgrounds, therefore, are quite a bit broader than skills, and also narratively more interesting. Just naming your background right can create a lot of cool hooks for your character. There's a trap in making your backgrounds too narrow. *Silver polisher who only polishes silver* is a pretty shit background. And there's a temptation to make backgrounds incredibly broad so you can be good at anything. *I'm Batman* is also a shitty background, even (or because) it lets you argue that it's always relevant. None of that allowed. In general, you'll want to think of two to three backgrounds that give you solid, flexible competency in their respective areas. Jobs are good to look at - Soldier, Pirate, Spy, Priest, etc. Jobs with specific factions are even better. And then personal flavor caps it off. So you might take the basic idea of 'Soldier' and then make it specific by turning it into 'Legionnaire in the Dragon Empire' and then flavor it personally to *'Imperial Courier in the Dragon Legion'*. Implicit in that background would be some amount of self-sufficient travel, military training, knowing how to rub elbows with veterans, marching songs, weapons maintenance, etc. ### Using Carcer as an Example To help make some sense of all this, let's try to re-imagine Carcer as a 13th Age character. #### Carcer's One Unique Thing **I have a demon locked in my heart.** #### Carcer's Icon Relationships It seems like the **Dreadnought**, who punishes evil but in a pretty cruel and terrible way, fits with Carcer's whole 'I serve a devil who punishes the guilty' vibe. So that's one relationship. The **Archmage** and the **Priestess** are probably both interested in that demon, so they're options for the other relationships. #### Carcer's Backgrounds *Cultist of the Arsenal of Infinite Punishments* is a pretty dope background on its own. It implies knowledge of laws, punishment, torture, interrogation, weapons. Another background might be *Secret Member of the Azor Theater Company* or *Part Time Magical Apprentice*. \page

### Classes Many of 13th Age's classes are familiar, with some mechanical differences, while some are new. Most of the classes are reasonably simple but there are variations that are significantly more complex and require investment in build and/or tactical use. **Barbarians** are roughly what you think they are, though perhaps not so much furious as committed to violence. They are simple to both build and play. The **Storm Rager** is a slightly more complex variant. **Bards** are also what you think they are (from battle skalds to masters of magical song) but are moderately complex to build and pretty complex to play, partly due to their enhanced ways of interacting with Icons. **Chaos Mages** are for people who like lots of randomness in their spellcasting. Pretty simple, if a little wild and unpredictable in play. Closest to 'Wild Sorcerer'. **Clerics** worship religions rather than individual gods and are roughly as complex as their 5E counterparts. **Stone Priestesses**, on the other hand, are very intricate and complex in both build and play. **Commanders** are leaders on the battlefield and are easy to build and require a bit of tactical thinking to play. **Druids** are everything you would expect. They are incredibly modular, and thus somewhat complex to build, but reasonably easy to play. **Fighters**, as you would expect, are good at hitting things with weapons. They're pretty straightforward, with some interesting fiddly bits in play centered around attacks that have different bonus effects depending on the actual die roll (odd, even, etc). The **Wind Lord** is a slightly more complex spirit-aligned variant. **Monks** are, finally, setting appropriate! They are masters of stances and forms and are easy to build and moderately easy to play. **Necromancers** are a PC class, so enjoy that! They have a lot of summons, which adds some complexity, especially because I will expect you to manage your summons in a way that does not complicate my life. **Oathguards** are specialist warriors with an ancient legacy, sworn to the truth and enemies of the undead. Pick a single melee weapon and go about your stabbing - simple to build and play. **Paladins** are holy champions. They do the Paladin things you're familiar with, with some customization. Very simple to build and play. **Rangers** are what you'd expect. They're simple to play and build and excel at tracking and eliminating single enemies. **Rogues** sneak around and stab things, just like you'd expect. In play, they are slightly more complex due to their momentum mechanic. **Rebels** have more options and are thus a tiny bit more complex. **Sorcerers** are more distinct in 13th Age, defined by their ability to gather power, rather than metamagic. They draw power from the Icons for their spells. The **Storm Voice** is a specialized Sorcerer who is very interested in weather. ``` ``` **Wavebreakers** are undead summoning, hammer wielding warriors. They cast spells or attack wildly, and are pretty complex to play but easy to build. **Wizards** do typical wizard things. They cast spells, declare that people can't pass, conduct strange rituals. Somewhat complex because of their wealth of decisions. **Zealots** are wild demon-smashing berserkers who don't have full control of their actions. ### Races The races of 13th Age should also be familiar. Races in 13th Age have more variety in stat bonuses, and you get a stat bonus from your class, as well. It's perfectly reasonable to be a halfling barbarian or a dwarven wizard in a way that isn't well supported in 5E. **Humans** are the dominant race of the Dragon Empire, Jade, and Coral. They are versatile. Humans of the Dragon Empire and Jade are quick to action while humans of Coral are hardy and resilient. **Dwarves** are the dominant race of Naganjin and Pearl. They are hardy and insightful and not easily put down. **Elves** are the dominant race of Arthavash. They are not immortal, but are reborn as one of three castes (high, wood, dark) every few centuries. They are variously graceful, wise, and clever. **Halflings** live in the Verdant Crescent. They are traditionally shy and elusive, but some are filled with powerful curiosity. **Half-Elves** are the dominant race of Harmony and Jet, and are found in great numbers on Coral and Jade, as well. They are not mixed-race, but rather their own people. They are sturdy and charming and creative. #### Foreigners Travelers come to the Hungry Sea, and to the lands that surround it, from all over the world. Being a foreigner means you have access to other races, and a good hook for your One Unique Thing. But it also means that you're not as plugged into culture as locals. **Half-Orcs** come from the steppes beyond the Dragon Empire. They are, like Half-Elves, not a mixed race but their own people. They are strong and quick and deadly. **Gnomes** are a clever and deft people who live
on their own wintry and forested islands far away. **Aasimar** are luminous and wise people from
another continent. **Tieflings** are cursed and clever people from
another continent. #### One Unique Race Foreigners are good OUT picks. But
if you want to be super unique
and you're really into biology, here
are two options. **Forgeborn**. You were made,
not born. **Dragonspawn**. You have the blood, or at
least a few characteristics, of dragons. \page

# The Hungry Sea Just a few centuries ago, the Hungry Sea absolutely deserved its name. It was a turbulent sea, difficult to navigate, filled with reefs and shoals and spines and spires. Everyone but the mad hugged the shores, and so the great nations of humans, dwarves, and elves were kept mostly apart. Also, there were monsters. Lots and lots of monsters. Dark, dangerous things lived in those seas. That all changed 250 years ago when the **Archmage** left the *Dragon Empire* and tamed the sea. He made peace with the spirits of *Harmony* and lit the beacons that protected shipping routes from monsters. ## The Five Sisters Five islands form the center of modern culture in the Hungry Sea. They are the islands that link the mainland kingdoms to each other. Great ships sail from these large mainland kingdoms to their closest island ports. Smaller vessels then transport goods back and forth between the five islands. Each of four islands has inherited its culture from its mainland parent. The fifth is *Harmony*, the center island and greatest of the sisters. ### Harmony Harmony is the cultural and financial center of the Hungry Sea. It is here that the **Archmage** makes his home, though he is rarely seen. And it is here that the *Harmony Spirit Exchange* is based - a bank where coin and spirit favors are bartered and invested. Harmony is by far the wealthiest of the *Five Sisters*, and also the most cosmopolitan. People of all races ply their trades here, including foreigners like Half-Orcs, Gnomes, Tiefling, Asimar, Genasi and others. The island city state is governed by the *Planning Committee*, on which sit seven commissioners. ``` ```

##### Institutions of Harmony Some of the organizations of Harmony include: - **Green Poles:** The Harmony city guard, named for the lanterns they carry on green poles. - **Silk Squares:** Freelance troubleshooters who solve problems outside Harmony for coin. Named for the patches of cloth they wear to indicate they are for hire. - **The Harmony Spirit Exchange:** The first an only bank in the region. Originally created to allow people to buy and sell spirit favors; now much broader in remit and scope. - **The Four Families:** Largest merchant clans in the Hungry Sea.

The reason that Harmony is so wealthy, prosperous, clean, and healthy, is the reason the Hungry Sea is habitable: The **Archmage** made peace with the spirits. Once wild and angry, the spirits of Harmony have been calmed by being actively included in Harmony's economy. Spirits offer favors in exchange for tasks that preserve and expand their nature. Street spirits, for instance, offer small tokens in exchange for keeping the streets clean. River spirits, similarly, pay citizens to keep the rivers clean. If someone wants to build a mine, they must pay the very land they wish to exploit. Spirit favors generally offer basic help - food, health, simple prosperity. This is the second economy of Harmony. People trade with each other in coin. Those who would otherwise fall through the cracks of the mercantile economy are caught by the spirit economy. They clean streets, sift rivers, tend gardens, and are rewarded for their efforts with spirit favors that grand them food, cure minor illnesses, and guard their homes. \page

### Jade Here be dragons. Jade is ruled by **The Three**, and in particular by the Green. Through some byzantine arrangement with the **Dragon Emperor**, the Green is considered an Imperial Satrap, and Jade is her domain, along with her siblings, the Blue and the Black. Under her rule, Jade has become a city of wild diversity and endless delights - as well as a hotbed of crime, violence, and debauchery. The casinos and clubs of Jade are popular destinations for travelers from all around the Hungry Sea. Jade is also the most racially tolerant of the already tolerant *Five Sisters*. So-called monstrous races have settled comfortably in Jade, beneath the wings of **The Three**. And, of course, there is crime. Crime so prevalent and pervasive that it isn't even particularly seen as crime by the locals. Crime run by sprawling, powerful families who take their reputations very seriously. ### Pearl Settled by the dwarves of *Naganjin* some two hundred years ago, Pearl is perhaps the most starkly beautiful of the Sisters. It is an island defined by imposing mountains and crystal clear rivers. Of surf and foam crashing against implaccable cliffs. One can see dwarven divers leaping off the high cliffs, in search of the exquisite stones deep underwater that give Pearl its name, attend the *Academy of War*, and marvel at the imperceptible motions of the *Stone Dancers*. ``` ```

### Coral The women and men of Coral sing a story in which they left their ancestral home when it was cursed with fire and poison. They fled to the sea in whatever ships they could manage and they journeyed across the great unknowable deep until finally they found their new home - the island of Coral. There are any number of myths that embellish this great journey, but this much is true: The best sailors, and the best ships, are both to be found on Coral. Here also there are deep-throated Wavesingers, and heavy shouldered Wavebreakers. The athletic, fiercely competitive sport of *Pachangui* is played here, in stadiums full of roaring fans. It is said the **Tempest** keeps a home here but no one can say where. ### Jet City of temples, home of the **Priestess**, Jet is the island closest to *Arthavash*, the elven homeland. Every religion has a temple, here, and greatest of all of them is *Alangor Kip*, the **Priestess**'s great cathedral wrought in stone and forest. Jet takes its name from the great petrified forest that dominates its interior (called, perhaps predictably, the *Stone Tree Forest*). Here, some artist - or artists - have taken to carving curious figures out of the petrified trees, creating the illusion of fanciful spirit animals peeking out from behind every trunk and branch. Jet is also a place for rest, with spas, hot springs, and ancient techniques of body manipulation and relaxation. \page

# Example Characters There's a lot to take in here and often the best way to understand how to make a character is to see a few being made. I'll walk through some different ways to think about characters and show how concepts can be brought to life. I'll use class mechanics from time to time but don't worry about knowing all those details. It should make sense within the context of each example, and anything more complex can be explained in person. ## Starting With OUT Wouldn't it be cool to play a character who's haunted? I mean, who doesn't want a ghost buddy hanging around. That's awesome. Having a ghost sounds like a One Unique Thing - it's not mechanicaly represented, but rather is something cool and special about my character. **OUT:** *Haunted by the ghost of her best friend*. ### First Thoughts For this character, I think it's helpful to look at class next. I look at the list and see that Necromancer is a PC option, and certainly a Necromancer would fit well with the ghost theme, right? But I also like contrast, because when parts of a character are too similar, they can blend into each other. A necromancer who talks to a ghost feels like it makes the ghost less of a unique thing. That's just me, of course. You might argue that being haunted is exactly why this character became a Necromancer, and that's a perfectly valid path. But since this is me, we'll keep looking. While I don't want to go necromancer, I do want to have some sort of magic. Good magic, not creepy death magic. So, divine magic maybe. I could go Cleric or Stone Priestess but now I'm thinking about how my best friend died. It see that *Pearl* has this thing called the *Academy of War*. I have no other info on the Academy, but clearly it's for warrior training. So what if my best friend died during a training exercise at the Academy? Now we're cooking! By having her die in school, I've actually defined some things about the Academy. Specifically, that place is no joke. There are live exercises. Students get hurt. Students die! It's an intense place. And I know I want divine magic, and I know I studied at a place that's all about war, and so a class immediately suggests itself. Paladin! Because the *Academy of War* is on *Pearl*, which is largely populated by Dwarves, I think I'll be a Dwarf. I could be a visiting student, just as easily, but no need to rock the boat on this point. So now I have some more details: **Race:** Dwarf (+2 CON, *That's your best shot?*) **Class**: Paladin (+2 STR) **Background:** Academy of War Graduate +4 ``` ``` ### Backgrounds I've got an OUT, one background, my race, and my class. Let's figure out the rest of my backgrounds. I know I went to the Academy of War, and took my first steps into Paladin-hood. I figure the Academy background comes into play when I'm dealing with military tactics, the history of war, drinking games (students like to party), and things like that. I like the divine part of being a Paladin, so maybe my next background should involve that. I could be some sort of crusader or temple guard, but as a Dwarf from Pearl, I'm kind of digging the idea of being a Shrine Maiden - a protector of holy places. So there we go, that's my next background. And maybe my ghostly best friend, who was studying to be a Scout, occasionally whispers advice in my ear, so that's another background I can take. **Backgrounds:** Shrine Maiden +3, Dwarven Scout +1 ### Stats For stats, I pick one of the arrays from the book: 16, 16, 14, 10, 8, 8 and assign my two 16s to STR and CHA (classic Paladin stats). I could have gone with a point buy (28 points) but that's math and the arrays are easier! ### Class Time to pick some class abilities. Paladins choose 3 starting talents in addition to Smite Evil. Sticking with our concept of a Shrine Maiden, I take Divine Domain Life (which I skin to represent the blessings of thespirits), Bastion (which represents her
protector identity), and Fearless (if you're
regularly haunted, fear isn't really a
thing for you). I drop my Adventurer feat
into Bastion for 1 extra recovery.

##### IMA HIROKI Dwarven Shrine Maiden \page ### Icon Relationships Since we're coming to Icon relationships last, there are already some pretty clear indications in place. She attended the Academy of War, which pretty clearly falls under the **Mountain Lord**'s influence, and she is a protector of holy places, which squares her quite nicely with the **Priestess**. And, of course, she's haunted, which is bound to catch the attention of the **Drowned King** who is certainly wondering why there's a ghost out there that's not under his command (Or is she?!). **Icon Relationships:** Mountain Lord: 1 Positive Priestess: 1 Positive Drowned King: 1 Conflicted ### Finishing Touches All that's left is gear and money, and of course a name. Keeping with the Pearl theme, I dub our hero *Ima Hiroki*. As a Shrine Maiden, she prefers polearms, so I go with the two-handed heavy option for Paladins and skin it as a naginata. She also has a longbow, and 25gp. ___ > ## Ima Hiroki >*Dwarf Shrine Maiden (Paladin 1)* > ___ > - **Armor Class** 18 (Heavy Armor) > - **PD** 14 | **MD** 11 > - **Hit Points** 33 (9 recoveries @ 1d10+3) >___ >|STR|DEX|CON|INT|WIS|CHA| >|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:| >|18 (+4)|8 (-1)|16 (+3)|8 (-1)|10 (+0)|16 (+3)| >___ > - Academy of War Graduate +4, Shrine Maiden +3 > - Dwarven Scout +1 > - **OUT** Haunted by the ghost of her best friend > - **Mountain Lord** 1 (positive) > - **Priestess** 1 (positive) > - **Drowned King** 1 (complicated) > ___ > ***Divine Domain (Life)*** See entry under Cleric > > ***Bastion*** +1 AC, guard allies, +1 recovery* > > ***Fearless*** Immune to fear, +1 vs. unengaged enemies > > ***Smite Evil*** +1d12 damage 1/battle + 3/day > ### Actions > ***Naginata*** *Melee:* +5 vs. AC, Hit: 1d10+4, Miss: 1 > > ***Longbow*** *Range:* +0 vs. AC, Hit: 1d8-1, Miss: 0 ### Alternate Paths I could just as easily have gone with Necromancer, as mentioned above. Cleric or Stone Priestess work great as well. For backgrounds, I could have leaned into the OUT and taken 'Haunted by a Dwarven Scout' at a higher level. And finally, for Icons, I could have leaned into the Drowned King, or complicated her relationship with the Mountain Lord. ## Start with Background I want to be a jungle warrior. Who wouldn't want to be a jungle warrior? A badass guerilla fighter who is in touch with the land. That's a strong, simple concept, and it's also a great background. So let's start there. **Background:** Jungle Warrior +5 ### First Thoughts Jungle warriors need jungles. There are a couple of areas that seem to lend themselves well to this - the Verdant Crescent and the Shattered Lands. The Shattered Lands are full of lizardmen, and if I went that way, I'd have a pretty clear angle on an OUT. But I don't really want to be a lizard. So, that means it's the Crescent, for me, and since the typical residents of that region are halflings, I have my race as well. Now I need to think about what toolbox my jungle warrior uses - what class do I use to power this concept. Ranger is the go-to default guerilla warrior, and it's a great pick. But I want to be even more closely tied to the land. And Druid looks like it has both warrior options and 'powered by the land' spells so that seems like a perfect and super interesting fit. In fact, going Druid suggests a pretty strong Icon relationship angle, as well. **Race:** Halfling (+2 DEX, *Evasive*) **Class:** Druid (+2 WIS) **Icon Relationship:** High Druid (3 positive) ### OUT and Backgrounds We've got a halfling warrior of the land who's particularly well suited to jungles. But since I came at this from a pretty simple background, I now need to think about what sets our little guerilla fighter apart from other little guerilla fighters. Brainstorming time! Our warrior isn't still hanging out in the jungles, protecting his village, so clearly he left for some reason. That gives us the two typical vectors - he's running towards something or away from something. My first thought was that he was cursed, which is a great OUT, but we literally just created a haunted character and I don't want to end up typecast as Guy Who Makes Spooky PCs. What if we gave him a destiny of some sort? As a tribal warrior, vision questing of some sort seems appropriate. So what if he had a vision of himself saving the High Druid's life. And now he's out and about in the world trying to get strong enough, and specifically to collect the things he saw himself wearing and wielding in the vision so that he is successful. Nice! Now we need to spend the rest of his background points. I was thinking Treasure Hunter, since his OUT makes him want to go out and find specific treasures. But it overlaps pretty heavily with Jungle Warrior. But our little dude has come to Harmony, which is full of markets which, in turn, are full of all kinds of goods. And it's not like Jungle Warrioring pays the bills. So maybe he's gone after two birds with one stone - as a Harmony Market Tout. \page

He moonlights as a guide around the dizzying mazes of Harmony's many markets, which earns him some coin and also keeps him aware of any interesting goods that show up. **OUT:** Had a vision where he saves the High Druid **Background:** Harmony Market Tout +3 ### Stats Again, we're going to go with an array because screw math. Normally, for a Druid, we'd peg Wisdom as the high stat, but I'm mostly using Druid to fuel a Jungle Warrior concept, so we're going to focus on the combative elements. I choose: 16, 14, 12, 12, 10, 10 and put the 16 in DEX and the 14 in WIS. ### Class Druids are fiddly as hell with lots of pieces to put together in different combinations. Fortunately, I've got a pretty strong concept that'll help make sense of all these parts. I choose to be a Warrior Druid adept, taking the *Ancestral Guidance* and *Spirits of the Land* maneuvers, and assign my Adventurer feat to Ancestral Guidance. To further represent the idea of a warrior of the land, I go with Terrain Caster initiate, which gives me 1 daily spell that varies depending on the terrain I'm in. Which is pretty sweet.

##### BO WUN THANT Halfling Guerilla ``` ``` ### Finishing Touches As always, a name. I decide to go with *Bo Wun Thant*, which is Burmese influenced. As a Druid, Wun is encouraged to light or no armor. Some druids use a shield but he isn't one of those. He's happy with his spear, shortbow, and 25gp. ___ > ## Bo Wun Thant >*Halfling Guerilla (Druid 1)* > ___ > - **Armor Class** 14 (Light Armor) > - **PD** 13 | **MD** 12 > - **Hit Points** 21 (8 recoveries @ 1d6+1) >___ >|STR|DEX|CON|INT|WIS|CHA| >|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:| >|12 (+1)|18 (+4)|12 (+1)|10 (+0)|16 (+3)|10 (+0)| >___ > - Jungle Warrior +5, Harmony Market Tout +3 > - **OUT** Destined to save the High Druid > - **High Druid** 3 (positive) > ___ > ***Warrior Druid Adept*** Ancestral Guidance*, Spirits of the Land > > ***Terrain Caster Initiate*** 1 Daily Spell > > ### Actions > ***Spear*** *Melee:* +5 vs. AC, Hit: 1d8+4, Miss: 1 (Odd: vs. MD +3dmg; 18+: Cast Terrain at-will spell as quick action next turn) > > ***Shortbow*** *Range:* +5 vs. AC, Hit: 1d6+4, Miss: 0 ### Alternate Paths As I mentioned, Wun could definitely have gone the Ranger route, taking the Tracker talent and going full on hunter. He could have also configured his Druid build differently, opting to be a shapeshifting warrior, or to have an animal friend. If I didn't want to have a grand destiny, I could have focused his OUT more locally. Champion of the annual Pig Eating contest would be at one end of the localized/small spectrum, and would make his OUT largely inconsequential. At the other end of the spectrum, Promised in Marriage to Eleven Chieftains' Daughters (and/or Sons) would create interesting times for him. Both on the crowded marital front, and also because it implies that he's positioned to unite the halfling tribes. We could also go with something that seems inocuous like Leaves no Footprints, which is open ended enough to allow for almost anything. \page

## Start with Icons Screw the Dragon Emperor. I hate that guy! With his empire and his dragons. Who does he think he is anyway? Sometimes you want to start with an icon relationship and build from there. Often, it's because one of the Icons resonates with you and you really want to be connected to that mythic identity. But you can even just pick 4 or 6 or 8 or 10 or 12 (you're noticing that these are all die-type friendly) and roll a die to see which icon is a defining element for your character. I rolled and got the Dragon Emperor. Now, the easy path here would have been to make a character in the Emperor's good graces - an up and coming bureaucrat or soldier or artist or wizard. I decided to go the other way and define this PC by a negative relationship with a generally benevolent and certainly powerful Icon. This is a good place to note that negative relationships still carry positive bonuses. Being an enemy of the Dragon Emperor means my PC has experience dodging his retaliation, and is looked upon favorably by the Dragon Emperor's enemies and rivals. Because the Dragon Emperor is a good guy, more or less, I'm limited in how many points I can put into a negative relationship with him. In this case.... **Icon Relationship:** Dragon Emperor (1 negative) ### First Thoughts Well, the obvious question here is how did I piss the master of 1,000 dragons off? I think of the Dragon Emperor as the courtliest of the Icons (and I'm sure both the Queen of Stars and the Mountain Lord disagree). Regardless, he's got a court. Politics and art happen at the court; these are weaponized things in the Empire. So maybe I wrote a satirical song or poem about him that did not go over well. At all. Assassins came for my PC in the night sort of disapproval. Satirical poem gone terribly wrong? I do believe we have a Bard on our hands! So our PC has a class. And because we're focusing on the Dragon Empire, we have a race, too - Human. We also have the start on our first background. Clearly, this PC was a court poet of some sort. I think the Dragon Empire is the sort of place that gives ranks and titles to everything. It's an officious place. And because I'm making this PC and there isn't any pre-existing detail to deny me, it is so! Thus, my first background is Imperial Poet of the Spring House. Which is a fancy way of saying court poet, junior grade. I'll also use this background to represent performance (instead of music). **Race:** Human (+2 DEX, *Quick to Fight*) **Class:** Bard (+2 CHA) **Background:** Imperial Poet of the Spring House +4 ``` ``` ### OUT and Backgrounds Because I've already got a pretty strong set-up with my negative Dragon Emperor relationship, I don't really want to belabor my One Unique Thing. Being in the Emperor's bad graces is dramatic enough. I want an OUT that is fun but is mostly cosmetic and not a huge narrative driver. Randomly, I think of Disney's Snow White and her whole 'animals love her' thing and I cannot resist the idea of this snarky court poet who is beset by animals who love him. So I go with Beloved of Songbirds. From this, I actually get some ancillary goodies. Maybe he's known as The Nightingale back in the Empire. Sometimes in a complimentary way, but often by people mocking him behind his back. Beloved of Songbirds might potentially have minor mechanical benefits in specific situations. For instance, having a bunch of birds spontaneously appear to accompany your epic recitation is pretty awesome. On the other hand, there are downsides. Having songbirds trill their love to you while you're trying to sneak into a gangster's lair - not so good. It's a wash, which is ideal. Backgrounds. Imperial Poet is quite strong
and one of the challenges of backgrounds is
that once you have a really good one, it can
be tough to think of others. We've got an outlaw poet (which by
itself is an awesome background, btw).
He's on the run (sort of). His existing
background covers social skills,
courtly manners, poetry and
performance. So he needs
some complementary skills -
maybe related to running
away. Maybe he fell in
with the wrong
crowd after
leaving the
Dragon Court and
landing up in
Jade. Got
muscled into
becoming a
small time
criminal.

**OUT:** Beloved of Songbirds **Background:** Green Idol Gang Member +4

##### Wang Anshi Human Poet \page

### Icon Relationships Yes, the Dragon Emperor is mad at him, but we still need to spend the other two relationship points. The **Prince of Shadows** has to be delighted that there's an exiled poet who made fun of the very stuffy Emperor. And that's great for my PC, but it also complicates life deeply. **Icon Relationship:** Prince of Shadows (2 complicated) ### Stats Array again! This time we're going to spike the hell out of Charisma because why not! Also, I'm picturing this PC as more of a caster Bard than a melee one. I choose: 18, 14, 10, 10, 10, 8, with the 18 going to CHA and the 14 to DEX. ### Class Bards choose three from a list of initial talents. I pick Balladeer, because it's literally about performing pieces that affect Icon relationships and that's my whole PC right there. I choose Archmage's Quatrain for his 1st level ballad as he's living in Harmony and it's always a good idea to butter up the ruler of the land you're in. LESSON LEARNED. I then take Jack of Spells and Songmaster to round out my casting/poem-reciting concept, and drop my Adventurer feat into Battle Chant because epic poetry is how wars are won. ### Finishing Touches I name my PC Wang Anshi, after a famous 11th century Chinese poet. Anshi favors a sword and a light crossbow, and wears leather and layered cloth as light armor. He's got some (25gp) coins in his pocket and is ready to go. ### Alternate Paths Anshi could have chosen a number of alternate classes. While Bard certainly dovetails well with his poet background, he could just as easily have been a Fighter, a Wizard, or anything else really. Any class can be a poet. It might have been interesting to make Anshi a half-elf and have his Icon relationship be with the Queen of Stars instead of the Prince of Shadows. That would make this more of a political story than a 'down on his luck poet' story. ``` ``` ___ > ## Wang Anshi >*Human Poet (Bard 1)* > ___ > - **Armor Class** 13 (Light Armor) > - **PD** 11 | **MD** 12 > - **Hit Points** 21 (8 recoveries @ 1d8+0) >___ >|STR|DEX|CON|INT|WIS|CHA| >|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:| >|10 (+0)|16 (+3)|10 (+0)|10 (+0)|8 (-1)|20 (+5)| >___ > - Imperial Poet of the Spring House +4 > - Green Idol Gang Member +4 > - **OUT** Beloved of Songbirds > - **Dragon Emperor** 1 (negative) > - **Prince of Shadows** 2 (complicated) > ___ > ***Balladeer*** Archmage's Quatrain > > ***Jack of Spells*** Wizard (Shield) > > ***Songmaster*** +1-+3 to maintain song > > ### Abilities > ***Battle Cries*** Move it!, Pull it together! > > ***Spells/Songs*** Battle Chant*, Song of Heroes, Shield > > ### Actions > ***Sword*** *Melee:* +4 vs. AC, Hit: 1d8+3, Miss: 1 (Even: Unengaged ally moves, engaged ally pops free; 11+: Nearby ally uses recovery) > > ***Crossbow*** *Range:* +4 vs. AC, Hit: 1d6+3, Miss: 0 > > ***Battle Chant*** Range; +6 vs. MD, Hit: 1d6+5 Thunder (See Sword for effects) \page

## Start with Class Sometimes you just really want to play a particular class. So let's start there. I'll choose Wizard. Here's where I admit that wizards are my least favorite D&D-game-family class. But I understand that I'm a weirdo and lots of people love them. And if I can make an interesting character out of a class I don't particularly love, then anyone can do it! **Class:** Wizard (+2 INT) ### First Thoughts One of the benefits of starting with class is you're starting out with a clear idea of what you're going to do at the table. By choosing wizard, I'm clear that I'm going to be casting spells. The challenge in starting with class is that focusing on the abilities you're going to have can be distracting when you're trying to think of an actual character - the other interesting bits. And in modern D20 type games, there are lots of people who can cast spells. Sorcerers and Bards and Necromancers and Clerics and Druids and... you get the point. Casting spells isn't very special. So, I need to figure out what's interesting in Wizardry and how that's going to give me a path to a cool character. More than any other class, Wizards are studious and scholastic. They don't just whip off spells or summon demons or fart fireballs. They study. They learn. They experiment and practice. The idea of a studious wizard isn't exactly earth-shaking, but I'm starting to get an idea of a character, at least. What we need, now, is contrast. Studious isn't interesting by itself. But studious in opposition to expectation is something else entirely. What would create the kind pressure or tension that would make studious interesting? An expectation of wildness or rebellion or action, certainly. And then I notice that there's an Icon called **The Tempest**. Heyyyy. So what if my PC has an origin tied to the **Tempest** but a situation ruled by the **Archmage**. Tension! Now I'm thinking that my PC should be tied to the **Tempest** by both relationship and OUT. And that suggests a juicy OUT indeed! **OUT**: I am the Tempest's only daughter. **Icon Relationship:** Tempest (2 complicated) ``` ```

### Race The Tempest's only daughter! Sexy. In the writeup, it says the **Tempest** is the power of the raging, unruly sea. It implies that she's about pirates and outlaws and exiles but I'm making a wizard, here and the Hungry Sea is full of spirits. So maybe the **Tempest** isn't just metaphorically the fury of the seas but is literally the spirit of the fury of the seas. Here's a situation where my OUT suggests a fancy non-typical race. I choose Spiritborn, from the Book of Ages. Her non-Icon parent is Elven, as is her upbringing. I opt for the Spirit's Flesh optional ability (my character has resist 16+ against lightning). And I choose the 'storm' version of Spirit Form. **Race:** Spiritborn (+2 WIS, *Spirit's Flesh, Storm Form*) ### Backgrounds Things are getting interesting. The spiritborn daughter of the **Tempest**, who apparently grew up in Harmony studying magic. And if you're studying magic in Harmony, home of the **Archmage**, then you're doing it in a big old school. There isn't anything listed in the handout, so I make one up: The School of Seven Secrets, often shortened to just Sevens. And like so many college students, especially ones who have legendary storm spirits for a parent, my character likes to blow off steam in wild and unhealthy ways. **Backgrounds:** Student of Seven Secrets +5 Adventure Sports Thrill-Seeker +3

##### Asha Loria Spiritborn Arcanist \page

### Icon Relationship I've got 2 points of complicated relationship with mom, but I still need to assign my last point. It seems obvious, considering the tension I've described so far, and the fact that my character's attending a wizard school on Harmony. I'll just write it down and be done with it. **Icon Relationship:** Archmage (1 positive) ### Stats Easy. You'll note the trend that the mechanical stuff is the easy part. It's getting here that takes some thinking. Wizards are classically one-stat-wonders, so I'll spike INT. But I'll try not to make her a total weakling, especially with her penchant for cliff-diving and ridge-running and spelunking. The array I pick is: 17, 14, 14, 10, 9, 8. I'll dump DEX and CHA; she's athletic but not graceful, and she's too intense to be easily charming. ### Class Like just about all classes, Wizards start with three class talents. I choose High Arcana, because my PC is a right proper educated wizard who memorizes and counters spells like a champ. I also choose Abjuration because I like magical defenses, and Wizard's Familiar. I decide that my familiar is a tiny adorable stormcloud (because mom) with the abilities of Agile (to offset my not great DEX) and Flight (because stormcloud). I also drop my Adventurer feat here to get a third familiar ability, which is Scout, so my thundercloud can go snoop on people. I don't pick spells yet because I get to decide what they are each day! Yay wizard! I do note down that I'm probably going to take Ray of Frost every day though, so I have an at-will attack. ### Finishing Touches Unsurprisingly, wizards aren't big on weapons and armor, so I'm happy to wear no armor and carry a nice all-purpose dagger. I've got my 25gp, my diploma, and a hankering for danger. ### Alternate Paths Going with the **Tempest** and my OUT and unique race was a pretty specific way to roll. I could just as easily have dropped the weirdo part of my race and been an Elf. Maybe I was a magical tutor in the court of the Queen of Stars, which would alter my backgrounds and Icon relationships. Or maybe I could have been a Dwarven calligrapher, painstakingly inking spells into rice paper. ___ > ## Asha Loria >*Spiritborn (Elven) Arcanist (Wizard 1)* > ___ > - **Armor Class** 13 (No Armor) > - **PD** 11 | **MD** 16 > - **Hit Points** 24 (8 recoveries @ 1d6+2) > - *Resist 16+ Lightning* | *Vulnerable: Force* >___ >|STR|DEX|CON|INT|WIS|CHA| >|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:| >|10 (+0)|9 (-1)|14 (+2)|19 (+4)|16 (+3)|8 (-1)| >___ > - Student of the School of Seven Secrets +5 > - Adventure Sports Thrill-Seeker +3 > - **OUT** I am the Tempest's only daughter > - **Tempest** 2 (complicated) > - **Archmage** 1 (positive) > ___ > ***Abjuration*** +4 AC when casting daily wizard spell > > ***High Arcana*** Memorization, Counter-magic > > ***Familiar*** Tiny thundercloud (Agile, Flight, Scout*) > > ***Cantrips*** 4/battle > > ***Utility Spells*** Takes 1 spell slot (out of 5) > > ### Actions > ***Dagger*** *Melee* +1 vs. AC, Hit: 1d4+0, Miss: 0 > > ***Ray of Frost*** *Range* +5 vs. PD, Hit: 3d6 Cold, Miss: 1 > > ***Shocking Grasp*** *Close* +5 vs. PD, 1d4 Lightning + pop free; Miss: Target's level to self \page

## Start with Race Sometimes you just want to be an elf. Statistically, most players want to be human, but the ones that don't want to be human want to be elves, presumably because they want to be super hot immortal beings. Elves aren't necessarily my favorite but hey, let's make an elf! We're going to add lots of color and flavor down the line but for right now, let's lean into some stereotypes. Like the fact that elves are archers. And they're magical. They are so much both of these things that D&D created the Arcane Archer just for elves. So hey, let's make an elven arcane archer in 13th Age! **Race:** Wood Elf (+2 WIS, Elven Grace) ### First Thoughts If we want to make an arcane archer, we should start with the archer part. The pre-eminent archer in the 13th Age world is the Ranger. Fighters have a bit of shoot-stuff ability but the Ranger is the best. Ranger also lets us go the arcane route easily because one of the possible Ranger talents is *Fey Queen's Enchantments* which lets me take Sorcerer spells. Spells I can then easily skin as fancy arrows. In fact, the Elven nation in this game is *Arthavash*, which has mythic India overtones. And warrior archers firing arrows that turn into laser beams and lightning bolts is 100% true to the setting. So let's get our OUT going here, as well. Right now I have a good mechanical thing going - Elven Ranger with Fey Queen's Enchantments to simulate magical arrows. We've got a Hindu mythology angle, as well, which puts reincarnation on the table. So maybe my PC is an ancient fallen hero reincarnated. **Class:** Ranger (+2 DEX) **OUT:** I am Gandhanya (a legendary hero), reincarnated. ### Backgrounds

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