This week, Tales of the 13th Age GMs receive The Battle of Axis — an adventure that brings the first season of 13th Age organized play to a thundering conclusion!
The fact that 13th Age organized play exists at all is a minor miracle wrought by ASH LAW. Rob Heinsoo originally believed that 13th Age’s flexible and customizable approach made an OP program impossible, because OP relies heavily on everyone playing by the same set of rules. ASH proved that it could be done, and our free, play-anywhere-you-want program helped build word of mouth and was a critical part of the game’s early success.
Now we enter the next phase of organized play, with an approach that reflects where the game and its community of fans are today.
Tales of the 13th Age Concludes
With the Archmage’s Comet passing over the Dragon Empire and playing havoc with the Archmage’s wards, the Lich King has decided now is the time to strike and seize an ancient source of power! Battle of Axis drops this week, and the email to GMs will include a special offer for those who take 5 minutes to complete a quick survey.
The 13th Age Alliance Begins
13th Age organized play is more than creating and delivering new content: it’s a community of GMs and players. That’s why, starting with the new season, the 13th Age Alliance will take its place among the Societies and Leagues of the roleplaying world.
(If you signed up for Tales, you are already in the Alliance — no need to complete a separate sign-up process.)
Signing up for organized play will continue to be free.
13th Age Alliance members will have access to all Season 1 adventures for free. We have other exclusive OP community stuff planned, but it’s too early to talk about those right now.
13th Age Alliance members will ALSO get the first three episodes of Season 2 for free. If you aren’t already familiar with our OP adventures, download the ENnie award nominated Archmage’s Orrery to get an idea of their quality.
The remaining ten Season 2 adventures will be bundled with 13th Age Monthly, and will be available exclusively to 13AM subscribers over the next year. We knew that we couldn’t repeat the Season 1 experience of giving away 70+ hours worth of official adventures for free, but we also didn’t want to charge for OP. Bundling the adventures with 13AM was the best solution, especially if we included a free option that would help take 13th Age OP to the next level.
Which brings us to…
FLGS Support
We want to encourage retailers to host organized play, so people can walk into their FLGS and see in person what 13th Age is all about. That’s why retailers who sign up to Bits and Mortar will have free access to 13th Age Monthly material for in-store use — including the new adventures. If you’re running OP at a game store and need the latest adventure, plus rules for summoning or dragon riding, just ask the owners.
Join Us At Gen Con!
We’re debuting the first Season 2 adventure at Gen Con Indy. Didn’t get in to one of our play sessions? We’re also doing a 13th Age organized play panel on Thursday, July 30 at 1 PM in Crowne Plaza, Pennsylvania Station B. Hearing me and ASH talk about organized play is almost as fun as playing, right?
Have questions in the meantime? Please leave a comment, or post to our Google+ or Facebook communities.