The ‘Create Your Own Icon’ Competition received a huge number of entries, each one was read and evaluated by our judge and co-author of 13th Age, Rob Heinsoo. The winner, Andrew Collins, will receive the pre-order and limited edition of 13th Age and the runner up, Adam Dray will receive a $25 Pelgrane voucher. Congratulations!
The Results
I’m giving the Golden-Whirligig-of-Campaign-Relevance award to The Tinkerer, an ambiguous (i.e., not necessarily good, not necessarily evil) icon designed by Andrew Collins. The Tinkerer may be the best written of the entries. It wastes no sentences and it’s funny. Andrew does an excellent job of suggesting how player characters would intersect with the Tinkerer. Compared to the icons in the 13th Age book, the Tinkerer seems like a rather personal icon, a single individual rather than the head of a large organization. I wouldn’t want him in all my campaigns, since Tinkerers have a way of hogging center stage in games played by us modern humans. But it’s a pitch-perfect write-up and it included a serviceable black and white symbol. Great work.
The Silver-Cup-of-Deeper-Inquiry goes to the Philosopher by Adam Dray. There were a fair number of entries suggesting that science offered a path around magic. Adam’s Philosopher stands out with an excellent sense for how the Philosopher would complicate and diversify the lives of both adventurers and the other icons. Like the Tinkerer, the Philosopher write-up nailed the pithy style we’re using in the main book. I’m not as sure that I’ll be using the Philosopher soon in one of my own games but that’s mostly because I already favor versions of the Priestess who are seeking information about earlier ages. The Philosopher got me thinking. I like the notes on the members of the icon’s organization.
The Pointed-Copper-Trident-of-Elusive-Deadlines goes to an entry that was too late to be submitted for real. But I still read Spiderfist Island’s the Sea Princess on the Something Awful forums, and she’s wonderful. I can imagine using her nearly as written and she’s written well. If I had judged the contest as quickly as I should have this wouldn’t have had a chance of being mentioned. But the tide rolls in and the Sea Princess can’t be ignored.
Thanks to everyone who submitted. I enjoyed many of the other entries, notably the Jester, Alchemist and Meddling Fool, all of which deserve honorable mention for humor, writing, or innovation.