Pelgrane Press Ltd

by Ryven Cedrylle

13th Age’s move from a Skill-based system to a Background-based system has far greater reach and power than is immediately evident on the first pass. The mechanics can handle a multitude of interesting nuances better than the standard d20 skill lists despite being a much smaller amount of information. In order to make the best use of Backgrounds, there are two key concepts to understand and master.

1) Backgrounds reify story. If you don’t like the word reify, try thingify – they’re synonyms. Backgrounds add mechanical weight to the story you give your character. They’re sort of the 13th Age Higgs boson to use a weird metaphor. You were a low-level imperial soldier before you struck off on your own? Cool. Imperial Soldier +2. You ran an inn before other adventurers showed up and burned it down? Awesome. Resentful Barkeep +3. Anything you did before taking up the adventurer’s mantle is easily converted to a Background.

2) Backgrounds can’t break the game. Go back and read that again. Get it good and deep in your head. Many problems with skill lists in other d20 systems showed up in skill substitutions. It might be super easy to get a crazy Arcana score and then take feats that let you use it for Diplomacy, Bluff, Rope Use, whatever. Suddenly you’re better at all these skills than the people who are supposed to be good at them and are going the normal way to get there! 13th Age’s hard +5 cap prevents that. Skills rolls stay within a predictable range of bonuses and while having a bonus is still better than not having one, not being ‘trained’ in a skill (by having a relevant Background) isn’t going to shut you down.

What about Extra Backgrounding? What if one character has 20 Background points and everyone else has 8? Isn’t “more points” better? The answer is no.. sort of. A character with a single overly generic Adventurer +5 Background could sit down at a table with another character who has 400 Background points in 80 different Backgrounds, but if every roll is limited to a single +5 bump due to Background they’re effectively equal in mechanical power. Neither of these situations are recommended of course, but the hyperbole is helpful in pointing out the resiliency of the system.

Armed now with this perspective, here’s a few interesting tricks you can do with Backgrounds to ramp up the detail, flexibility and fun of your 13th Age games.

Item and Relationship Backgrounds

Backgrounds reify story – any story. They point out the things that help your character succeed at adventuring. Why can’t Backgrounds be items, then? This was exactly the case at one of the official PAX East demos this year. A new player picked up the Bard sheet and after a moment of consideration wrote “Eldritch Flute of Destruction +4” as one of his Backgrounds. After a moment’s explanation to the table, the bard proceeded to tunnel through walls, bend bars, blow open treasure chests and generally be a one-man wrecking crew with his custom “magic item.” It wasn’t helpful in combat of course (you need to get a good twelve, maybe fourteen measures of music out of the thing before stuff really gets shaking) but that didn’t matter. He had a ton of fun laying waste to the dungeon and had there been an actual dwarven miner in the party, they would have been on about equal terms. Consider also a wizard whose backstory may not itself be very interesting (standard academy training and all) but shows up with a Crystal Orb of Scrying +3, a Robe of Illusions +3 and some Ritual Incense +2 as her gear!

If Backgrounds can be items, they can also be other characters. Throw Peter Parker into 13th Age and one of his Backgrounds is bound to be “Uncle Ben”, probably somewhere at +3 to +5, for all those times he needs to call on his dear departed uncle’s wisdom. For a slightly more in-genre example, Mulan might have a “Mushu +2” Background for when she needs to steal a small item, make someone laugh or start a fire.

Temporary Backgrounds

If the number of Backgrounds available to a character and the resulting power of that character aren’t mathematically related, a GM could allow rolls during non-combat scenes to create multiple temporary Backgrounds as resources for the party. The ranger tracks some desired quarry through the woods and since her roll was well over what was needed for the tracking effort, earns a “Clear Path +3” temporary Background. Later, the mummy escapes from the tomb and the PCs need to hightail it to safety. The Ranger probably doesn’t need any help navigating through the trees but the Cleric and Paladin clad in plate mail would probably love to use that +3 to further secure their getaways. Before the group goes back the Wizard researches the mummy’s magic, picking up a “The Mummy’s Illusions +2” temporary Background. That Background saves the Fighter’s hide when confronted with what is supposedly a GIGANTIC red dragon. These sorts of little boosts are nice rewards since 13th Age isn’t terribly interested in mundane treasure and the economics of arms manufacturing.

Negative Backgrounds

A tip of the hat is due here to Quinn Murphy and his excellent post on the idea, which you can find here. The idea, in short, is that some Backgrounds might be negatively applied to represent curses or long-term injuries. The adventurer who lands the last blow on the night hag sustains a “Stuttering -2” Background that comes into play whenever social skills are needed. Whether the Stuttering Background replaces the character’s normal Background or merely stacks on top is going to be a call by the GM but could work either way. Perhaps a player dropped to 0 HP and who fails two death saves also racks up a negative background such as “Cracked Rib -2” or “Broken Foot -4” to represent chronic injury. As a quick and dirty fix assume each such Background drops by 1 during a full heal, though a GM should feel free to play with the rules a little so long as everyone knows up front how things are going to work.

Sanity

A 13th Age game that is flexible with its Backgrounds can even handle more complicated ideas like sanity loss. Imagine a party of heroes staggering out of some portal somewhere. They’ve seen things Mortals Were Not Meant To Know and faced Evils From Beyond Time. You don’t just walk away from that unscathed. Any hero who is down at least two Recoveries needs to make a standard save. If down more than 6 Recoveries, it’s a hard save. Alternatively, have everyone make a standard save but include whatever negative Backgrounds they picked up along the way. Whatever the method, if a character fails that save, he must rewrite one of his Backgrounds to reflect the experience. Thus the Wizard with the “Giant Grimoire +2” now has a Tome of Forbidden Magic +2, the “Treasure Seeker +1” Thief now “Smells Gold And Danger +1” and the “Eager Evangelist +4” Cleric has become an “Apocalyptic Prophet +4.” The characters have maintained their numerical strength, but the change in Background wording affects how skill rolls are explained. Even more amusing, the incremental advance these characters earn could be explained as being ‘unlocked’ or ‘uncovered’ by their slow descent into madness!

Whether you take all or some of these ideas back to your table, the bottom line is to remember that Backgrounds shouldn’t be static. Backgrounds represent vital information about your character’s behaviors, beliefs and situations. Use them boldly to give meaning to the events of your journeys.

If you are interested any of these games, please email me with the game you wish to playtest in the subject line.

13th Age Bestiary

System: 13th Age

Author: Kenneth Hite, Steve Townshend, Ash Law, Kevin Kulp, Cal Moore

Duration: Various

System: Trail of Cthulhu

Author: Bill White

Duration: 1-2 sessions

Deadline: 15th June

Description:
The investigators are members of a Miskatonic University expedition whose purpose is to travel to a Christian settlement in India which some evidence suggests dates as far back as the 1st century AD. Their destination is the village of Usmavasati, which lies in the Siwali Hills on the edge of the Punjab region of northwestern India. Their aim is to advance historical knowledge of early Christianity, as well as possibly locate the source of a Prester John legend.

We sent the 13th Age manuscript to the printer last week. It’s a good feeling.

The book looks great. I think you’ll be able to see the quality of Chris Huth’s final layout work for yourself.

The magnificent editing job performed by Cal Moore is probably harder to see. Cal spotted innumerable problems and knew exactly which problems were his to solve and which problems were for the designers. We had fun finishing this book. We’ll do it again. For other books, I mean, we’ve done this one enough.

One funny aspect of taking a long time to finish a project is that your editor has time to look at things carefully and realize what’s missing. Cal’s advocacy got many small touches added or fixed at the last minute. A couple weeks ago, Cal wrote and said “There really should be more 7th and 9th level rogue powers.” I’d made up four new powers before I slowed down and realized that the answer had to be no, the time was past. Rob Watkins, the developer, was not going to thank me for slipping powers past him in the shadows of the final days. Chris had already laid out the feats list and new feats would mess it up. Cal and I were busy already. It was too late. Pencils down.

So we talked it over and got to laugh at ourselves about finally really going pencils down. And within a week Simon had suggested that we put the Chapter 10 adventure, Blood and Lightning, back into the book because we had the space. Ah. Good idea. Pencils up! We avoided all changes that weren’t corrections.

So I took the new rogue powers I’d written and slotted them towards 13 True Ways. And as a small tip of the dagger to Cal, who has given me a convincing list of small things I need to improve for the existing classes in 13 True Ways, here are a couple of the 7th level rogue powers that just didn’t get into 13th Age, can now be playtested, and will at least influence 13 True Ways even if they don’t actually make the cut, since one of them is pretty corner-case. If you play with them and have comments, email us at 13AgePlaytest@gmail.com

Happily yours, Rob Heinsoo

7^th Level Rogue Powers

Nobody’s Fool (for long)

Melee attack

At-Will

Special: This attack can only be used in place of a basic attack when you are confused and are therefore forced to attack one of your allies.

Target: One of your usual allies

Attack: Dexterity + Level vs. AC

Natural even hit or miss: Your attack against your ally misses, and deals no damage. The confusion effect you are suffering from ends and you finish your turn normally.

Natural odd hit: Half of WEAPON + Dexterity damage.

Miss: No effect.

Epic Feat: When you roll a natural even hit or miss with the attack, you also gain another standard action this turn.

Resistance is Delicious

Melee attack

At-Will

Target: One enemy

Attack: Dexterity + Level vs. AC

Hit: Weapon + Dexterity damage, and ignore any resistance the target has to your attack.

Miss: Damage equal to your level.

Epic Feat: The next ally who attacks the target also ignores its resistance.

A early Page XX this month, due to a number of absences from the Pelgrane’s Nest, with Simon off on a lovely holiday for a week and Cat away at UK Games Expo in Birmingham. This means that lucky Ken Writes About Stuff subscribers get their latest fix of Kenly goodness early this month in the circle-dodging form of Hideous Creatures: Hounds of Tindalos. As well as that, we’re delighted to announce the opening of pre-orders for Eternal Lies, as well as an update to the Eternal Lies Suite featuring not only new music, but a voiceover by geek favourite Wil Wheaton.

We’ve also got an article from RPG.net about some enthusiastic new Trail of Cthulhu players in Malaysia; a 13th Age/Archmage System hack by ASH LAW; an article by Will Hindmarch about what it was like to work on Eternal Lies, and one from Christopher Smith Adair about converting Achtung! Cthulhu into Trail of Cthulhu. And on the 13th Age front, Rob Heinsoo provides a couple of 7th level rogue powers, there’s a 13th Age fillable character sheet courtesy of Evenglare on the Pelgrane Press forums, and an excellent article about how backgrounds thingify any 13th Age story by Ryven Cedrylle.

And of course, there’s Simon’s View from the Pelgrane’s Nest, Ken’s Call of Chicago and a word from Robin D. Laws, as well as details of the latest Pelgrane games – and an Ashen Stars character generator – available for playtesting.

New Releases

Eternal Lies Strange Aeons Edition The epic Trail of Cthulhu adventure is now available for pre-order.
The Complete Eternal Lies Suite the soundtrack and album for Eternal Lies with a voiceover by Wil Wheaton
Ken Writes About Stuff – subscribe now to 12 issues of Ken Hite-ly goodness.
Hideous Creatures: Hounds of Tindalos. The latest in the new subscription line Ken Writes About Stuff by Kenneth Hite.

Articles

13th Age News: Through the Scrying Glass 13th Age goes to the printers
View from the Pelgrane’s Nest by Simon Rogers, all you need to know about the inner workings of Pelgrane Press.
SRD or SDD? by Robin D. Laws, on the challenges of creating an SRD for the GUMSHOE system.
The Call of Chicago, Framing, Drilling, Carnacking – Kenneth Hite explains how to model William Hope Hodgson’s Carnaki stories in Trail of Cthulhu.
Converting new players to Trail of Cthulhu…, detailing how new Trail of Cthulhu players are being recruited in Malaysia.
Eternal Lies, Will Hindmarch talks about his upcoming epic Trail of Cthulhu campaign.
Converting Achtung!, Christopher Smith Adair explains how he converted Achtung! Cthulhu to Trail of Cthulhu.
June playtesting – various adventures for Trail of Cthulhu need playtesting, volunteer here.

13th Age

13th Age News: Through the Scrying Glass 13th Age goes to the printers
Printers, editors and rogues – a bit of background and some 7th level rogue powers by Rob Heinsoo
13th Age of Camelot – A 13th Age/Archmage System hack by ASH LAW
13th Age fillable character sheet – thanks to Evenglare over on the forums for this useful aid.
13th Age backgrounds, by Ryven Cedrylle – everything you’ve ever wanted to know about reifying your story.

See Page XX Poll

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The weather finally seems to have turned to Spring here at Pelgrane Towers, so let us bring some sunshine into your life with the latest edition of Page XX.

This month features the latest in Ken Hite’s Ken Writes About Stuff subscription series – entitled GUMSHOE Zoom: Martial Arts, this edition focuses on the Martial Arts mechanic and its applications and extensions. Kevin Kulp introduces brand-new GUMSHOE system players to General Abilities and Investigative Abilities, and ASH Law giving examples of the kind of cane your wizard could wield in 13th Age. As part of the 13th Age organized play program launch, we’ve got a feedback form available if you’d like to get involved, and continuing the theme, Wade Rockett explains how he uses aspects of 2nd edition Esoterrorists to enhance the mystery of his 13th Age game.

And rounding it off, the Page XX regulars – Simon’s View from the Pelgrane’s Nest, Kenneth Hite’s Call of Chicago and a word from Robin D. Laws – this month, giving invaluable advice on how to manage NPC-NPC conversations – as well as details of the latest Pelgrane games available for playtesting.

New Releases

Ken Writes About Stuff – subscribe now to 12 issues of Ken Hite-ly goodness.
GUMSHOE Zoom: Martial Arts. The second in the new subscription line Ken Writes About Stuff by Kenneth Hite.
The Dying Earth Revivification Folio A new, streamlined way to introduce and play the Dying Earth Roleplaying Game, now available in PDF

Articles

View from the Pelgrane’s Nest by Simon Rogers, all you need to know about the inner workings of Pelgrane Press.
Talking at Yourself by Robin D. Laws, useful advice on how to manage conversations with multiple NPCs.
The Call of Chicago: Expediting, Ordering, Inquiring – a sneak peak at the upcoming Mythos Expeditions by Kenneth Hite
How to play GUMSHOE - Kevin Kulp explains General Abilities and Investigative Abilities for new players
May playtesting – various adventures for Trail of Cthulhu need playtesting, volunteer here.

13th Age

13 canes – 13 examples of the different canes your 13th Age wizard can wield, by ASH Law
Organized play program – if you’re interested in getting involved, fill in the form here
The Baddies Aren’t Taking A Break – Wade Rockett explains how elements of Esoterrorists 2nd Edition can be used to enhance your the secrets and conspiracies in your 13th Age game

See Page XX Poll

Deadline: 15th May

Description:
The investigators are members of a Miskatonic University expedition whose purpose is to travel to a Christian settlement in India which some evidence suggests dates as far back as the 1st century AD. Their destination is the village of Usmavasati, which lies in the Siwali Hills on the edge of the Punjab region of northwestern India. Their aim is to advance historical knowledge of early Christianity, as well as possibly locate the source of a Prester John legend.

13 Canes for 13th Age

By ASH LAW

Wizard’s canes are known for being eccentric creations – canes that conceal long-stemmed pipes or are topped with miniature orreries or have perches for familiars. The non-magical canes of bravoes are more utilitarian than those of magic users, reinforced and weighted with lead pellets in hollow interiors to allow for quick jabs and heavy swings. Rogues sometimes use swords disguised as canes, with the hollow shaft of the cane ‘scabbard’ doubling up as a blowpipe. Certain high ranking clerics carry canes as a mark of their office. Even bards sometimes carry canes that function as flutes or fold into pan-pipes.

Canes are more impressive than a wand, yet not as unwieldy as a staff. Magic canes are the implement of choice for many fashionable wizards, as well as being useful to warriors who want something more stylish and socially acceptable than a shield. Mundane canes are often just fancy looking sticks used to cosh ne’er do wells. Magical canes do not like being used as clubs at all, they think themselves to be above their non-magical brethren. If repeatedly mistreated in this way may take control of their owner’s legs and walk them into a ditch or gorse bush.

Attunement

You can only attune to one cane at a time, but may use them alongside other implements and weapons. Unlike wands or staffs canes can be used at adventurer-tier, champion-tier, and epic-tier. Canes and staffs do not get along at all, and will fight if an adventurer tries to attune to both.

Bonuses

If wielded as an implement canes grant +1 to hit and damage per tier (+1 at adventurer-tier, +2 at champion-tier, and +3 at epic-tier). If used in the offhand canes grant +1 AC per tier as though they were an enchanted shield, but this prevents the wielder from using a shield or a second weapon in their off-hand.

Default Property

Canes are all about helping their owner be properly balanced when walking, and this is reflected in their special property. In battle when you roll damage if the damage is less than the average you take the average. If you roll more than the average damage you take the higher amount, and then for the rest of the battle use your average damage for each attack. Critical hits work as normal – roll the damage and double it.

For example – If your damage with an attack was 2d6+2 you would take the result of the roll or 9 (the average). If you rolled above 9 for the damage on that attack then for the rest of the battle you would take the average of the damage roll for any attack that you make.

*****

Cane of The Eye

The cane is topped with a swivelling glass eyeball. It peers around, seeming to understand what is going on.

Always: +1 AC per tier if in off-hand or +1 to hit and damage per tier if wielded as an implement.

Per-Battle: Roll damage as normal and if it is less than the average take the average. If you roll more than average take the higher amount and then for the rest of the battle use your average damage for each attack without rolling the damage.

Recharge 6+: For five minutes you may see through the eyeball, using the cane to peer down holes or around corners. At epic level you may see through the cane without holding it provided it is less than 1 mile away.

Quirk: Paranoid about blind spots.

GMs: Did the glass eyeball used to belong to a person, and if so to whom? Is there a matching cane with the other eye? Did these canes used to fashionable, and if so where and when? Do others consider the cane creepy when the eye moves or is it the mark of a lady to carry such a cane?

Captain’s Cudgel

This stout cane is carved with a nautical map. The core of the cane is made from a strand of the Snow Queen’s hair.

Always: +1 AC per tier if in off-hand or +1 to hit and damage per tier if wielded as an implement.

Per-Battle: Roll damage as normal and if it is less than the average take the average. If you roll more than average take the higher amount and then for the rest of the battle use your average damage for each attack without rolling the damage.

Recharge 16+: As a quick action you may summon a wind – pop a nearby small or medium creature free of engagement if it is engaged, and blow it to anywhere nearby or far away. If the wind would blow a creature into danger (over a pit, into lava, onto a wall of spikes, etc) they may make an easy save (6+) to stop short of the danger.

Quirk: Always want to travel by boat if possible.

GMs: Where does the map on the cane lead? Who created the map? Who is searching for the map? Who doesn’t want people going where the map leads?

Compass Rose Cane

The cane’s surface is studded with compasses, circular slide-rules, and spirit levels. The cane is topped with a theodolite and the collar studded with sólarsteinn crystals.

Always: +1 AC per tier if in off-hand or +1 to hit and damage per tier if wielded as an implement.

Per-Battle: Roll damage as normal and if it is less than the average take the average. If you roll more than average take the higher amount and then for the rest of the battle use your average damage for each attack without rolling the damage.

Recharge 16+: A hidden compartment within the cane allows blank paper to be inserted. When the paper is removed it will have an accurate map of the area traversed over the past hour.

Quirk: Concerned with being late.

GMs: Do the compasses all point north, and if not where do they each point? What is the purpose of the slide rules, what are they set up to calculate? How is the ink for the maps produced, and does it have any special properties if the map is burnt?

Ferule of Hammers

The cane is topped with a heavy brass hammer. When the cane is struck against the ground dwarven song can be heard as though carried on the wind.

Always: +1 AC per tier if in off-hand or +1 to hit and damage per tier if wielded as an implement.

Per-Battle: Roll damage as normal and if it is less than the average take the average. If you roll more than average take the higher amount and then for the rest of the battle use your average damage for each attack without rolling the damage.

Recharge 16+: When swung the cane summons hundreds of ghostly hammers that can break any one unattended stationary non-magical object (shatter a door into splinters, crack a bolder in two, knock a hole in a wall) but very large objects (city walls, ships, bridges) are just damaged and magical objects are not even dented.

Quirk: Extol the merits of solid dwarven construction.

GMs: Where do the ghostly hammers come from and go to? Do ghosts of dead dwarves swing the hammers eternally in a special hell, or are the hammers constructs of pure magic?

Gem-topped Cane

This posh-looking cane is topped with a large diamond. When light passes through the diamond it creates an enchanting rainbow halo.

Always: +1 AC per tier if in off-hand or +1 to hit and damage per tier if wielded as an implement.

Per-Battle: Roll damage as normal and if it is less than the average take the average. If you roll more than average take the higher amount and then for the rest of the battle use your average damage for each attack without rolling the damage.

Recharge 11+: Provided you spend a move action each round to twirl the cane one enemy that an ally has hit this battle is confused (save ends).

Quirk: Dances at inappropriate times.

GMs: The gem is enticing to thieves, has this cane been stolen before? Who did this cane used to belong to? Why does the cane have an affinity for dance?

Ghost-walking Shillelagh

This twisted heavy walking stick is carved with ghostly faces. Those who own the cane come to realize that the faces change position and expression when nobody is watching.

Always: +1 AC per tier if in off-hand or +1 to hit and damage per tier if wielded as an implement.

Per-Battle: Roll damage as normal and if it is less than the average take the average. If you roll more than average take the higher amount and then for the rest of the battle use your average damage for each attack without rolling the damage.

At-Will: As a move action you may teleport via a realm of the dead to any nearby or far away place that you can see. Teleporting via the realm of the dead costs a recovery – the realm sucks life energy away.

Quirk: Prefers mournful songs.

GMs: What is the land of the dead like? Is there only one realm of the dead? Does the character sprint through a literal land of the dead to a portal on the far side, or is the travel through a bodiless astral realm?

Ludomancer’s Walking Stick

The cane is topped by a glass dome that contains tiny dice. Twisting the head of the cane causes the dice to jump and roll, briefly glowing.

Always: +1 AC per tier if in off-hand or +1 to hit and damage per tier if wielded as an implement.

Per-Battle: Roll damage as normal and if it is less than the average take the average. If you roll more than average take the higher amount and then for the rest of the battle use your average damage for each attack without rolling the damage.

Recharge 16+: Add 1d6-2 to an ally’s damage roll. Recharge is 11+ at champion tier and 6+ at epic tier.

Quirk: Keen to gamble.

GMs: Who created this cane? Did they give it away, sell it, or lose it gambling? What is the cane itself made of: gallows-timber, bone from a gambler who lost big, lucky yew wood, or carved from a huge chunk of amber? Why is the material of this cane important, and what might it tell adventurers about the nature of luck?

Mirrored Vade Mecum

It might be carried by a paladin, a pauper, or a princess; the cane looks remarkably unremarkable in every way. Only the highly polished knob on the head is noteworthy, and onlookers seem to not even notice that. It is as if the cane is trying to blend in.

Always: +1 AC per tier if in off-hand or +1 to hit and damage per tier if wielded as an implement.

Per-Battle: Roll damage as normal and if it is less than the average take the average. If you roll more than average take the higher amount and then for the rest of the battle use your average damage for each attack without rolling the damage.

Recharge 16+: You may gaze into the polished knob that tops the cane and transform your outward appearance. Doing so takes but a moment for a minor change (hair color) but many minutes for a more complete disguise. You can not change what race or class you appear to be but may change things like height and build, facial features, apparent gender and age, and skin, eye, and hair color. You may also make minor changes to your clothing and equipment (you may change the heraldry that appears on your shield and you may change the style and shape of the shield but you can not disguise the fact that it is a shield nor change the type of shield that it is, you could transform a resplendent doublet into a ragged and dirty jerkin or turn a wizard’s cloth robe into a silk gown but could not turn either into a guard’s leather armor). The cane itself changes in minor ways, shifting color slightly and looking grander or shabbier as the situation demands. Any changes to your appearance and your equipment and clothing lasts until you next use the cane to change again or to change back to your original appearance.

Quirk: Suspicious of other’s true motives.

GMs: If you lose this cane you are stuck in the form you last shaped yourself to. Who has used this cane previously and got stuck? What happened to that person? Is it possible to use this cane on somebody else and if so what must be done to make that happen?

Rod of the Raging Raptor

The head of the cane is a bird of prey with wings outstretched. When the owner of the cane walks with it in the open air birds will often circle overhead, forming a gyre.

Always: +1 AC per tier if in off-hand or +1 to hit and damage per tier if wielded as an implement.

Per-Battle: Roll damage as normal and if it is less than the average take the average. If you roll more than average take the higher amount and then for the rest of the battle use your average damage for each attack without rolling the damage.

Recharge 16+: As a quick action summon a mighty hawk to join in the battle on your side. The hawk flies, has your level x5 in HP, has your defences -1, has your initiative -1, and makes basic attacks as per your basic melee attack but at one dice type less (e.g. if you do 2d8+2 damage with your basic melee attack it does 2d6+2 damage). The GM controls the hawk.

Quirk: Dislikes confined spaces.

GMs: Where does the hawk come from and go to? Is it the same hawk every time? Can the hawk speak, and if so what might it say?

Serpent-headed Stick

The detailed carving on this cane is extraordinary. The glass eyes of the serpent seems to blink, though surely that is a trick of the light.

Always: +1 AC per tier if in off-hand or +1 to hit and damage per tier if wielded as an implement.

Per-Battle: Roll damage as normal and if it is less than the average take the average. If you roll more than average take the higher amount and then for the rest of the battle use your average damage for each attack without rolling the damage.

Recharge 16+: You (but not your equipment) may transform into the animal for one hour. During the hour the cane’s head resembles your normal head. At the end of the hour (or before then if you wish so) the transformation ends and you are teleported back to the cane.

Quirk: Sniff everything.

GMs: Wolf-headed and cat-headed versions of this cane exist, and it is said that there is an elk-headed cane somewhere in the capital city. What other animal-headed canes exist? Who made these canes, and for what purpose? What would happen if all the animal canes were bought together?

Skull Cane

The cane is topped with a polished metal skull. Tiny runes run the length of the cane’s shaft, and at midnight exactly the runes glow with a baleful light for a short time.

Always: +1 AC per tier if in off-hand or +1 to hit and damage per tier if wielded as an implement.

Per-Battle: Roll damage as normal and if it is less than the average take the average. If you roll more than average take the higher amount and then for the rest of the battle use your average damage for each attack without rolling the damage.

Recharge 6+: For five minutes (outside combat only) the undead will perceive you as one of them and will not attack.

Quirk: Offended by the smell of unwashed bodies.

GMs: What happens when the undead see the wielder of the cane as one of them? Is there a physical transformation, or an illusion effect, or does it mentally dominate the undead, or does it shroud the soul of the one carrying the cane? What is the long-term effect of using the cane? What do the runes on the shaft of the cane say?

Sword Cane

The black lacquered cane is elegant in its simplicity. When the owner of the cane wills it so it flows and transforms into a sword blacker than a raven’s wing.

Always: +1 AC per tier if in off-hand or +1 to hit and damage per tier if wielded as an implement.

Per-Battle: Roll damage as normal and if it is less than the average take the average. If you roll more than average take the higher amount and then for the rest of the battle use your average damage for each attack without rolling the damage.

At-Will: You may use the sword as a light one-handed weapon and gain +1 to hit and damage per tier.

Quirk: Admires sharp objects.

GMs: The person who created this cane obviously had a need to hide a weapon, who created the cane and why could they not openly carry a sword? What strange substance is the cane made out of – liquid dream, solidified night, or a perfectly black metal from the realm of the dead? Where did the substance of the cane originate, and who would like to reclaim it?

Utility Cane

Sometimes known as ‘the sticks with the tricks’, these metal canes are full of unfolding tools and useful items. Corkscrews, drills, blades, saws, magnifying glasses, mirrors, tweezers, dowsing rods, shingle froes, timber scribes, a folding adze, etc… if you can name a tool there is probably a hidden compartment in the cane somewhere that contains it. The cane can even deploy into a paddle, a seat, or an umbrella.

Always: +1 AC per tier if in off-hand or +1 to hit and damage per tier if wielded as an implement.

Per-Battle: Roll damage as normal and if it is less than the average take the average. If you roll more than average take the higher amount and then for the rest of the battle use your average damage for each attack without rolling the damage.

At-Will: In any situation where having access to tools would help (picking a lock, disarming a trap, building shelter, fishing, etc) and you have the cane to hand and use it, add +2 to the roll.

Quirk: Keen to poke things best left alone.

GMs: Which race made these canes? The dwarves, the gnomes, the elves? Who would consider it important to keep that many tools to hand? What tools does the cane not contain, and why? What tool on the cane is broken, and how did it break? What tools on the cane are hidden or hard to access?

*****

ASH lives with his wife and child in Washington State (but still misses the Shire).

Talking at Yourself

by Robin D. Laws

Experienced GMs know to avoid situations in which multiple NPCs carry on a conversation. These conversations with yourself are hard for GMs to sustain and for players to follow.

Most of the time you can engineer events so that this doesn’t happen. If one or more PCs are present in the scene, you can have one of the NPCs draw them into the discussion. This slices up a group scene into mini-scenes, mostly between an NPC and at least one PC.

Let’s say the king and his chancellor, both NPCs, are conferring to decide what to do about the bandits up north. The party stands by as they hash the issue out. The king prefers caution; the chancellor, decisive action. Express this not with long snippets of dialogue from each, but with leading questions that draw the PCs into the scene.

The chancellor might throw the question to a hotheaded player character: “Sir Eobald, I see you champ at the bit to put down that impudent rabble!”

The king might address the most cautious of the player characters: “Cedric, I see the rashness of Eobald’s proposal disturbs you.”

This allows you to establish the king’s reluctance and the chancellor’s hard line, without having them speak much at all to one another.

If you find yourself having to avoid these scenes often, take it as a sign of a larger problem. It suggests that you’re letting your own supporting characters upgrade themselves to protagonist status and drive the plot. It implies that the PCs have become spectators. The process of putting them back into dialogue is just part of the broader objective: to return them to a central place in the storyline. Give them the power to move events. Have powerful NPCs work through them, giving them the leeway to make the key decisions that propel the narrative. Think of the NPCs as supporting characters who bring out aspects of the main cast, whether as foils or antagonists.

Still, sometimes you’ll find events pushing you toward inter-NPC dialogue.

In many cases you can simply keep the conversation brief, boiling it down to a couple of sentences per NPC. Dialogue sequences in roleplaying games go on for much longer than their equivalents in fiction. As we improvise them, we repeat ourselves, include placeholder pleasantries as we buy ourselves time to think, and fumble around in pursuit of the main point. In other words, we speak like we do in real life. Screenwriters in particular compress dialogue to the essential core, leaving in only as much of this extemporization as needed to make the words feel real. Do the same when forced to stage a self-conversation. Unlike a scene between you and a PC, or two PCs, you know what both characters want and what the upshot of the conversation will be. You’re improvising the words but know the outcome already. So compress like a screenwriter and get to it in as few words as possible.

But let’s say the premise of the scene calls for an extended conversation. A PC might be eavesdropping on two NPCs without their knowledge, preventing you from having the supporting characters acknowledge them and draw them into the dialogue. Player characters might listen to an already recorded conversation. Or the story might take you to a situation where it strains credibility for the NPCs to care about what the PCs have to say—for example, when a conversation occurs between two jailer NPCs keeping them prisoner.

A simple trick allows you to turn even these seemingly closed conversations into exchanges—not between characters, but between you as the GM and the players.

Elide these conversations the same way you would the details of a long journey, with summary narration instead of dialogue:

“The king and chancellor argue for a long time about your usefulness to the court, and whether he should risk your lives sending you up against the bandits.”
“On the tape, Chu and Big Head discuss a laundry list of triad business, most notably the pressure from the mainland cops to replace the rotating leadership with a single gang leader handpicked by them.”
“Your captors, clearly not suspecting that any of you speak their tongue, mostly make bored small talk about this crappy assignment and the pleasurebots back on Araatis Station. But they do let slip some guesses about the coming succession war.”
“Each of the cultists rises to toast Ephraim on the occasion of his one hundredth birthday. Bloch speaks wittily, Howard with inebriated gusto, while Derleth gives a fussy genealogical discourse. Smith finishes with a poem of cosmic insanity that sends you reeling, blood dripping from your left ear.”

These recaps invite the players to then ask for more details, which you can answer on a Q&A basis, in GM-to-player mode:

Ken (a player): Did they mention the name of the mainland cop?

You: It didn’t seem like they knew.

Ken: Any idea from the tape who might know?

You: Big Head was passing on gossip from his boss.

Ken: (consulting his notes) That’s Uncle Bell, right?

You: Yep.

Ken: Any idea where this mainland cop operates from?

You: Big Head says that Uncle Bell just got back from Guangzhou.

Carrie (another player): Do they say anything about who hit Uncle Gong?

You: Both agree that it was an inside job, but Chu thinks it was a spontaneous mutiny, while Big Head says they must have been paid off by Wai.

Daniela (another player): Do they say anything else interesting?

You: They mostly talk about the leadership situation and the pressure from the mainland. Anything else you’re looking for?

Sometimes conversations between NPCs just provide flavor, as in the above case of the toasting cultists. But if a player does come up with an interesting question, the answer to which would move the scenario onward, you can improvise an answer to it.

When you have preplanned information to impart, make sure to imply a clear line of questioning the players can pursue to get it out of you. Otherwise your solution to the talking to yourself problem mutates into another classic dilemma, the pixel-hunt.

This month’s topic comes courtesy of “Professor” Ken Thronberry, as a perk of his Badlands Overlord reward tier from the Hillfolk Kickstarter. Thanks for the great question, Ken!

I gotta say, it’s a good thing I already wrote GUMSHOE rules for expeditions. Because now I’m not surprised when everything takes longer and seems harder than it did when we planned this thing. Mythos Expeditions has, like its namesake, run into its share of excitement along the way. Promising paths had to be neglected, heroic comrades fell along the trail, and I can’t get the sound of those drums out of my head! The drums! The drums! Oh, hold on, I’ve got Fleetwood Mac’s “Tusk” on repeat on iTunes. My bad. I blame FX’ The Americans, which is giving me a Cold War nostalgia that is very dangerous in a man with an espionage RPG line. Very dangerous. Hmm. Oh, right. Where were we? Or, rather, when were we?

That’s the question I’ve been asking myself as the adventures for Mythos Expeditions have come in. One or two are still out gathering firewood or looking for fresh water, but I’m fairly confident that we’ve got our table of contents right here, right after “GUMSHOE Rules for Expeditions”:

“The Gobi Sleepers,” by Steven S. Long

Maverick paleontologist Roy Chapman Andrews is making one last trip to the wilds of Mongolia, to uncover primordial fossils revealing the true heritage of mankind. At the edge of the world, on the brink of an invasion, the expedition must sift the dust of the Gobi and survive the truth. Andrews’ last expedition was in 1930, but time tends to get weird out in Inner Mongolia.

“Ravenous Silences,” by Anthony Warren

Plague and rebellion grip Liberia in West Africa, but the brave scholars of the Miskatonic Medical Relief Expedition are undaunted. And, so far, undevoured! The Kru Rebellion ran from 1931 to 1936, and this adventure can run likewise.

“Lost on a Sea of Dreams,” by Adam Gauntlett

Oceanographer William Beebe has invented an amazing device, the bathysphere, that promises to revolutionize deep exploration forever. A team of Miskatonic scholars is bringing him an improved model … sailing on a course leading through the Bermuda Triangle. Beebe’s Bermuda expeditions ran from 1930 to 1934, opening up a vast horizon of chronological possibilities.

“An Incident at the Border,” by Kenneth Hite

Set in a Paraguay battling for its life against Bolivian invasion, this expedition takes Miskatonic geologists — and a helpful oil company engineer — deep into the desolate heart of the Gran Chaco. Artillery strikes, vampire bats, dust storms: Paraguay’s got it all during the Chaco War (1932-1935).

“The Jaguars of El-Thar,” by Tristan J. Tarwater

An unstable anthropologist in the wilds of Mayan Yucatan. The prestige (and expedition budget) of Miskatonic’s Mayan studies program is on the line, in a remote province thrown into turmoil by Depression, rebellion, and the return of unwelcome outsiders. Riffs off the Mayan “Caste War” ending in April 1933, as well as another event that year that might spoil the adventure if I revealed it here.

“Tongued With Fire,” by Bill White

The historical roots of the Prester John legend — perhaps of the beginnings of Christianity in India — draw Miskatonic scholars to the hills above the Punjab to uncover the true significance of an ancient artifact that may have been touched by John the Baptist! Flashing back to Kipling’s Raj and forward to Gandhi’s revolution, this expedition likely launches between 1936 and 1939.

“Whistle and I’ll Come to You,” by Emma Marlow

A mysterious stone whistle carved by an unknown tribe in the interior of a New Guinea island! Cannibals! Limestone caverns no human eye has ever seen! Errol Freaking Flynn! And I haven’t even teased the best thing about this scenario yet. If you have a single pulp-gamer bone in your body, you will run this adventure set in May, 1937. Trust me.

“A Load of Blarney,” by Lauren Roy

A curious shape in a cargo of iron leads Miskatonic’s finest on a tangled trail through Irish history, past rath and grange and standing stone, through the Moon-Bog of the Barrys, and into a mythic terror. It begins with the historical sinking of the steamship Annagher in December 1937, and ends … well, that would be telling, would it not?

“Cerulean Halo,” by Matthew Sanderson

President Roosevelt wants to return to Clipperton Island, an isolated speck in the Pacific hundreds of miles south of Mexico, an island legendary for its deep-sea fishing and haunted by its murderous past. Miskatonic University wants FDR to take along a Miskatonic naturalist who knows the island. There isn’t one, so the Investigators will have to do instead. The President did indeed visit Clipperton in July 1938, so you must have found nothing amiss before then, right?

You’ll note I’ve put those adventures in rough chronological order. Why is that? I will explain, in the manner common to such things, by means of a rambling exposition. Mythos Expeditions is a collection of scenarios, not a campaign. The basic expedition structure is fairly inescapable: Investigators travel through danger, meet horror, escape/overcome it or die/go mad/both. When the only core clue you really need is marked with a big red “X” on the map, the advantage, the killer app (heh), the key to a good expedition scenario is the scenery: the setting, the horror, the sense of, yes, travel to a strange far place. Running all these adventures in a row strains those advantages. Fodor’s Disease sets in: “If it’s Tuesday, this must be Belgian Congo.”

Ideally, you’ll parcel them out over years of play, tossing an expedition into the middle of an ongoing series of urban Arkham adventures, rural Massachusetts bonfires, and campus intrigues. Putting these scenarios in chronological order, then, helps you plant seeds ahead of time. It lets you know when “sweeps week” might be coming for your campaign, and gives you big events to build up to. Sure, you can change things up — only a churl would cavil if you extended the Yucatan Caste War, or moved FDR’s second Clipperton fishing trip up to his first term. You’re not tied to the real history (which is oddly bereft of Yithians and blasphemous frog-people, anyhow) — but you can always play in it, if you want. I think that’s more fun. Maybe that’s just me.

And if you further differ with me, and want to run them all in a row, who am I to say you can’t? I say no such thing. However you want to play, spaced out or time-shifted, this book will also contain guidelines for using these adventures as the spine of an Armitage Inquiry campaign. Rules for bringing knowledge back to the Orne Library, so that everyone in the Inquiry can build up those dedicated pool points. If I have time, maybe a sub-system for playing through an academic career (student or faculty) at Miskatonic University, where “publish or perish” takes on a whole new meaning. Or maybe that will have to go in a later issue of Ken Writes About Stuff. It’s hard to say. I just have to keep striding forward, toward that big red “X” on the map. And somehow stop these maddening drums.

Greetings 13th Age players and GMs! Exciting news!

We are launching the 13th Age organized play program, and want you to help us pick a name for it.

We are going to time the launch so that it is close to the release date of the book itself.

If you’re interested in being involved, please fill out the form below and we’ll e-mail you details closer to the time.

by Ryven Cedrylle

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13 Canes for 13th Age

Talking at Yourself

by Robin D. Laws

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