The coolest and most fun parts of traditional d20-rolling fantasy gaming plus story-focused rules, now with updated class and kin powers, fearsome new abilities for your favorite monsters, and revamped icon connection mechanics!
13th Age brings crunchy but streamlined d20-rolling combat to the table, where every character has their moment in the spotlight and no class gets left behind. For 2E we’ve revised almost every core class spell, power, and talent to give players a wide array of effective options to choose from.
(ROB SAYS: To put it another way, over time it was clear that players found some 1E class spells, powers, and talents much, much better than others, which narrowed their options to a few reliable standbys. We made those not-so-fun options fun.)
Monster powers trigger unpredictably during 13th Age combat, and that helps the GM have as much fun as the players! 13th Age 2E doubles down on that fun by revising our core monsters with diverse mechanics to challenge the heroes in surprising ways.
(ROB SAYS: We learned a lot about designing good monsters for 13th Age after we did the core book, so we’re going to make those monsters as awesome as the ones in the Bestiaries. For those who participated in the 2E playtest, the monsters you saw worked okay but we did a lot more work to make them better.)
Whether you want heroic, over-the-top story arcs in your d20-rolling campaign or intense personal drama, 13th Age is for you. Every character has One Unique Thing that sets them apart from all others, and provides the raw materials for adventures and campaign arcs. Also, your character’s background provides a bonus to relevant skill checks so every skill roll might reveal a new facet of your story.
(ROB SAYS: It can be hard for new players to come up with exciting Uniques and Backgrounds, so we added more and better examples.)
13th Age 2E strengthens the game’s other major storytelling mechanic: icon connections that link the heroes to the world’s powerful magical archetypes, including the Emperor, Elf Queen, Prince of Shadows, and Great Gold Wyrm. Like Greek heroes and their complicated relationships with the gods, your connections provide both powerful narrative advantages and. . . .let’s say interesting consequences. New icon connection examples will help players and GMs improvise stories and add twists that feel perfect, even though no one will see them coming!
(ROB SAYS: Honestly, the icon rules as presented in 1E were indecipherable and harder to use than they should be. In 2E we’ve streamlined and clarified how those connections work narratively and mechanically, changed them so you roll for a “twist” after using the connection, and provided different techniques for using them: interacting with icon-aligned NPCs, flashbacks, channeling raw iconic power, getting help from icon-associated spirits, and so on.)
For the first edition we were determined to fit everything into a single core book, partly because we’re allergic to the not-uncommon business practice of releasing multiple unnecessary books just because people will buy them. As work on 2E progressed we became convinced we could best serve the game, and the needs of players and GMs, with two reasonably-sized books instead of one huge book. If you know our work, you know where this got us: one reasonably sized book and one huge book!
The 13th Age Second Edition Heroes’ Handbook grew from a planned 240 pages to just under 350 pages. It includes character creation, a chapter on the kin, classes, backgrounds, the combat rules, icon connection rules, and writeups of each of the icons to help players use their connections in fun ways that shape the story. To help people get into the game, the book opens with a 17-page example of play covering campaign planning, character creation, and the first four encounters of a first level adventuring party exploring a cemetery overrun by Lich King cultists.
The 13th Age Second Edition Gamemaster’s Guide includes around 250 pages of campaign advice, rules for running the game, monsters, setting material for the Dragon Empire, treasure, and a new introductory adventure. We’re offering the two books together in a slipcover as well as selling them individually. GMs need both books. Players can get by with just the Heroes’ Handbook, but may want the Gamemaster’s Guide for treasure and info on the default setting.
Except for the original core book and the first edition GM Screen, books published for first edition 13th Age are entirely compatible with the revised rules, monsters, magic items, and classes in 13th Age 2E. Here’s the list of changes from 1e.
Run a new party through Elven Towers or the Eyes of the Stone Thief! Add a monk or necromancer from 13 True Ways to the party, or maybe a demonologist from Book of Demons! Then hit them with the Great Ghoul from 13th Age Bestiary 2. . . .
(ROB SAYS: This is all true. There are some changes to conditions that we think make them work better in the game, but they won’t dramatically change how monster abilities and PC powers, talents, and spells that use those conditions operate. We’ve revised true magic items so they get better and unlock new abilities as their wielders level up. Also, GMs might want to double-check the Building Battles sections in individual adventures to match the improved chart in 2E.)
Lee Moyer and Aaron McConnell collaborated on full color art for the new edition, especially in the Kin chapter of the Heroes’ Handbook, as well as both covers. Plus we used Kickstarter funding to work with wonderful artists including Simone Bannach, Laura Galli, Cristiana Leone, Pat Loboyko, Rich Longmore, Dagmara Matuszak, and Paul Tobin. With work from these artists and more, Lee assembled The Art of 13th Age as a gorgeous coffee-table book!
Rob Heinsoo and Jonathan Tweet had a blast working together on the second edition. Opinionated sidebars scattered throughout both books will show that! They still don’t agree on every rule, and when they disagree they explain why.
We received hundreds of playtest reports, dozens of them at least ten pages long. Player feedback mattered because 2E design was not about playing it safe! We pushed ourselves to create fun new character class and icon connection mechanics that will provide players and GMs with another ten or twelve years of powerful surprises.
Join our amazing community on the Pelgrane Press official Discord server, or on the fan-run 13th Age Discord. and 13th Age Tabletop Roleplaying Game Facebook group.
The Kickstarter campaign has successfully funded, but you can pre-order through Backerkit here.