13th Age FAQ

Original FAQ written by Wade Rockett in 2013. Slightly updated by Rob Heinsoo in 2025 to handle 13^th Age 2E.

For the current 2E Errata & Typos, click here. If you have spotted more errata or typos, please email us the details at support@pelgranepress.com. 

• What is 13th Age?
• Who are Rob Heinsoo and Jonathan Tweet?
• What about the other two names on the cover of the core books?
• Is 13th Age a good game for people new to roleplaying games?
• Is the game kid-friendly?
• When is the game coming out?
• When is the PDF-only version coming out?
• I love 13th Age and my local game store. But I want to order from Pelgrane directly because I also want a .pdf. Can I have both?
• Is 13th Age sold on Amazon?
• Are there any PDF previews? Quick-start rules?
• So there’s a new second edition. What happens to the sourcebooks and adventures published for the first edition?
• Any other goals for the second edition worth mentioning?
• Is there a simple way for people who played 1E to see what changed in 2E?
• Where’s the SRD?
• How is 13th Age different from other d20 variants?
• Why do you compare yourself to other d20 variants?
• What’s the game’s default setting?
• If I wanted to use another game’s setting, could I? How would icons fit into that?
• How long does it take characters to become heroes with cool powers instead of rat-killing newbies?
• What classes are in the core book? Are some of them easier to play than others?
• What about the classes in 13 True Ways and the Book of Demons?
• Are the classes in 13th Age balanced?
• Is there much emphasis on non-combat abilities (spells, abilities, skills, etc.)?
• How prevalent are the icons? Aren’t PCs supposed to be the center of the game?
• Do you have an anti-harassment policy for convention play?
• Where are the best places to get fan-created content?
• Are there guidelines and licenses for making my own 13th Age compatible content?
• Will 13th Age work with my AD&D/3.5/4e/5E/Pathfinder adventures?
• I have questions about multiclassing!
• How does initiative work when a necromancer uses Summon Undead to summon Blackamber skeletal warrior mooks?
• Hey, there are some mistakes in the Book of Demons text. What’s up with that?
• I have a question not covered by this FAQ?

What is 13th Age?

13th Age combines the best parts of traditional d20-rolling fantasy gaming with new story-focused rules, designed so you can run the kind of game you most want to play with your group.

Created by Rob Heinsoo and Jonathan Tweet, 13th Age gives you all the tools you need to make unique characters who are immediately embedded in the setting in important ways; quickly prepare adventures based on the PCs’ backgrounds and goals; create your own monsters; fight exciting battles; and focus on what’s always been cool and fun about fantasy adventure gaming.

Also, owlbears rip your arms off and feed them to their young. That’s a thing.

Who are Rob Heinsoo and Jonathan Tweet?

The lead designers of D&D 4th edition and 3rd edition respectively (and they have many, many other games to their credit). They’ve been friends for 30+ years, and designed 13th Age to be the game they want to run for their own weekly Wednesday night gaming group.

What about the other two names on the cover of the core books?

Lee Moyer and Aaron McConnell are award-winning artists who provided all the art for 13^th Age 1E as well as many pieces for 2E. In second edition, Lee helped art-direct and reoriented or repainted many illustrations by the other artists, a somewhat unique process which everyone involved enjoyed. As part of the 2E Kickstarter, Lee also put together a coffeetable book, The Art of 13^th Age.

Is 13th Age a good game for people new to roleplaying games?

It’s a fantastic game for new players because it lets them play nearly any kind of character they want (“The only dwarf in the world with a clockwork heart built by a hidden race of dragon wizards? Done!”) and the rules for fighting, spellcasting and using skills are flexible enough that they rarely run into a “you can’t do that” situation.

In 2013, 13^th Age 1E was not aimed at first-time gamemasters, assuming some amount of experience with RPGs and d20-rolling games. Part of the reason that 13^th Age Second Edition, released in 2025, has expanded to two books is that it has added dozens of pages of examples and advice to help new players and encourage new GMs. For example, the Heroes’ Handbook opens with a 17-page example of play, including campaign set-up, character creation, and four combat scenes.

Is the game kid-friendly?

The kids who’ve played in our demos absolutely love it. The rulebook is written for adults, and there’s a couple of mild swear words in it. But nothing you wouldn’t hear in a PG-rated movie. Rob and Jonathan probably would have used more swear words in the second edition but playtesters consistently asked them not to.

When is the game coming out?

It’s shipping now, so early December 2025! You can order it from the Pelgrane shop or your local retailer.

When is the PDF-only version coming out?

It’ll be coming out on December 15th, 2025 – order it then from the Pelgrane shop or DriveThruRPG.

I love 13th Age and my local game store. But I want to order from Pelgrane directly because I also want a PDF. Can I have both?

Yes!  Here’s how.

Is 13th Age sold on Amazon?

Yes. Amazon purchasers get a 50% discount voucher for PDFs of books purchased on Amazon. If you purchase from Pelgrane Press or your local game store, you get the PDF free. This difference reflects our desire to support hobby retailers and offset Amazon’s low margins and discounting.

Are there any PDF previews? Quick-start rules?

You can see a PDF preview here. The quickstart rules we’d worked up for first edition don’t entirely apply, so we’re working on a new quick start PDF for 2E.

So there’s a new second edition. What happens to the sourcebooks and adventures published for the first edition?

One of the design goals of 2E was to remain entirely compatible with books we published for the first edition. There are two adjustments to 1E books that we recommend, but which aren’t strictly necessary. First, 1E edition adventures that include battle building tables for different numbers of players should be adjusted to work with 2E’s new battlebuilding guidelines (GMG: 42). Second, 1E magic items should be updated with the new default powers for the various types of magic items.

Any other goals for the second edition worth mentioning?

2E’s original intention was to update the core nine character classes to make all the options presented fun and worthwhile instead of having some powers and spells that were either underpowered or no fun. Along the way, we looked for ways to make every monster similarly fun and engaging and updated the magic items to make them all worthwhile instead of our earlier favoritism to magic weapons and armor. We also got our narrative icon connection rules sorted out, with many pages of examples.

Is there a simple way for people who played 1E to see what changed in 2E?

Yes! Check out the 13^th Age 2E: Changes Worth Mentioning document! It goes chapter-by-chapter through both the Heroes’ Handbook and the Gamemaster’s Guide.

Where’s the SRD?

Right here. But it’s still the 1E SRD. We haven’t updated the SRD to 2E yet but we’ll be working on that at the end of 2025 and early 2026.

How is 13th Age different from other d20 variants?

As a player you can invent things for your character in a free-form way rather than picking everything from lists. For example, you define your character’s skills in a free-form, story-oriented way using backgrounds.

Every character has one unique thing that sets them apart: something that is real in the world, but doesn’t provide a mechanical benefit.

Characters’ relationships with the icons—the most powerful non-player characters in the world—connect them to the world and provide a resource they can use during play. PCs are not powerful at 1st level, but they are important in some way.

As a GM you can quickly build encounters (and even monsters) on the fly, and use the story mechanics to share the job of worldbuilding with the players. Once you’re comfortable with the rules it’s fairly easy to improvise a session.

Combat doesn’t use a grid to determine where combatants are, how far they can move, or different effects such as flanking, pushing, pulling, etc. Using miniatures makes it easier to visualize the scene, but all you really need to know is who’s nearby, who’s far away, and who’s engaged in battle.

The “escalation die” mechanic keeps combat moving, turning what might otherwise be a two-hour fight into a 30-minute fight–one that’s exciting and suspenseful to run. On the first round, the monsters have the advantage. But starting on the second round, the GM places a big 6-sided die on the table with the 1 facing up. The PCs (and some very scary monsters) get a +1 bonus to hit. On the third round, that bonus increases to +2…and so on, to a maximum of +6. That way, the longer the PCs stay in combat and fight hard to win, the better their chances get because they’ve learned their opponents’ strengths and weaknesses, and adapted.

The rules play off each other in interesting ways, so something fresh and different is happening all the time. For example, some classes and monsters have abilities that trigger when they roll an even number  on an attack, or a 16 or higher. Some abilities activate when the escalation die is odd or even, or reaches a certain number. Flexibility, randomness and surprise are a big part of 13th Age.

If you’d like to see how it compares to 5e, there’s an article about that here. If you’re trying to decide between 13th Age or 5e, there’s an article about that here.

Why do you compare yourself to other d20 variants?

Two reasons. The first is that we want to highlight where we take an unusual approach to a common mechanic, so it’s not confusing to people. The second is that a lot of people who are interested in buying 13th Age ask us to explain how it’s different—if it’s exactly like any other d20 game, why bother with it?

What’s the game’s default setting?

The default setting is the Dragon Empire, a high-magic realm that is in its 13th historical age. It is ruled by 13 mighty “icons” who are recognizable fantasy characters: the Emperor, the Archmage, the High Druid, the Lich King, and others.

We want each group to come up with the version of the Dragon Empire that’s most fun for them, so it’s very loosely described in the book. GMs and players can use it as a starting point and fill in the rest with their own ideas.

If I wanted to use another game’s setting, could I? How would icons fit into that?

Of course you could! How the icons fit into it depends on the setting. We based them on common fantasy archetypes, so if there’s an emperor (or high king), an archmage, an undead villain, a king of the dwarves, a queen of the elves, a lord of thieves, you can easily adapt the icons presented in the game to the setting.

If that setting does not have very powerful individuals in it, determine which influential NPCs will figure into the characters’ adventures, and use them as icons. If the powerful forces in the world are organizations rather than individuals, have those factions, city-states, cults or whatever be the icons.

How long does it take characters to become heroes with cool powers instead of rat-killing newbies?

You start as heroes with cool powers. Character generation is designed to create PCs who have a rich background, a unique trait that sets them apart from everyone else in the world, and some sort of tie to the most prominent people in the world — so you shouldn’t expect them to die on their first outing by stepping on the wrong flagstone. Every class and every kin have abilities and powers that set them apart, even at 1^st level. Of course the same goes for the monsters: you don’t get to be a hero without having serious opposition.

What classes are in the core book? Are some of them easier to play than others?

Page 53 of the Heroes’ Handbook sorts the nine classes from easy-to-play to better-for-experienced players. The list goes like this: paladin, barbarian, fighter, ranger, rogue, sorcerer, cleric, wizard, bard. Each class also starts with advice for new players on the simplest possible build.

What about the classes in 13 True Ways and the Book of Demons?

The six classes from 13TW (chaos mage, commander, druid, monk, necromancer, occultist) work fine alongside 2E classes. The demonologist from Book of Demons also plays well alongside 2E classes. There are a couple FAQ questions about these classes below and a short article about adapting them here.

Are the classes in 13th Age balanced?

Loosely balanced, with a design focus on making each character class fun to play. Each class has distinctive mechanics that bring out what’s cool about being a fighter, rogue, sorcerer, etc. Fighters get Momentum if they haven’t been hit, meaning that enemies have to attack the fighter or pay a price. Rogues can disappear into shadow and choose between Sneak Attack and Rush Attack.. Sorcerers gather power and release it in spectacular displays of chaotic energy.

Is there much emphasis on non-combat abilities (spells, abilities, skills, etc.)?

First, icon connections gives every player chances to shape the narrative out of combat.

Second, when you create your character, your backgrounds set up the types of non-combat interactions your hero is most ready for. For example, a PC might put 4 points into the background “Sailor,” giving him or her a +4 bonus to succeed with any skill a sailor might reasonably have. Even better: the character could have the background, “First mate on a notorious pirate ship that raided off the coast of New Port.” This gives the PC a +4 to things like sailing, navigation, knot-tying, climbing, carpentry, and so on — but also evaluating treasure, knowledge of the criminal underworld, knowledge of the justice system, a reputation among pirates (and notoriety among everyone else), knowledge of the area around New Port, and an ability to lead.

Third, many of the classes have special abilities that only apply out of combat. Wizards have a special utility spell slot that lets them load up on non-combat skills. Barbarians have a class feature called Legendary Prowess that lets them perform feats of amazing strength. Bards have a similar class feature called Social Skills that’s all about charisma. Rangers have Tracking, and so on.

Could a player put the maximum number of points into a background like “Good at Everything” and get a bonus to every skill check?

Rob thought we’d covered this in the rules, but apparently we cut that paragraph! Universal background bonuses are cheaty and should be avoided. Be specific and interesting to make interesting stories!

That said, it’s your campaign, and if you decide to make a one-time exception and allow a hero to have an extremely wide background, you could make the hero pay for it! Dig deep into why that character is somehow good at everything (“I’m the result of secret experiments by the High Druid to produce a superhuman”) and what the consequences are (“Agents of the High Druid are trying to capture me. Also, all of my fellow escaped superhumans are evil and insane and want to turn me to the dark side”) and use that to make the character’s life extremely interesting. Check out this article for how Wade Rockett handles that.

How prevalent are the icons? Aren’t PCs supposed to be the center of the game?

PCs are the center of the game. The backdrop for their adventures is a world where powerful individuals and factions pursue goals that could disrupt the Empire–perhaps even bring about the catastrophe that ends the Age. The PCs’ actions can avert this disaster, or help it along.

To illustrate this, let’s look at the novel The Three Musketeers. D’Artagnan is the hero, and his swashbuckling exploits shape the course of history. But he’s far from being the most famous or powerful person in the story. If we were to map his icon relationships he would have a negative relationship with the villainous Cardinal Richelieu, a positive relationship with King Louis XIII, and perhaps a conflicted relationship with the Duke of Buckingham—an enemy of France but a devoted and loyal lover of France’s Queen Consort (another icon.)

Beyond the Game

Do you have an anti-harassment policy for convention play?

Yes. Read the anti-harassment policy and GM guidelines here.

Fan and third-party creation

Where are the best places to get fan-created content?

Check out the resources page for links. In particular, Vault of the 13th Age is a large and growing repository of user-created content, including the 13th Age fanzine Escalation!.

Are there guidelines and licenses for making my own 13th Age compatible content?

Yes, there’s a complete overview available in the 13th Age Archmage Engine Licensing Overview.

Other Products

Will 13th Age work with my AD&D/3.5/4e/5E/Pathfinder adventures?

Not directly, since 13th Age characters and creatures have different statistics from their counterparts in those systems, so if you try to use the numbers directly, various fights and challenges might be too hard or too easy. You can, of course, convert your favorite adventures to 13th Age by converting the monsters to appropriately-scaled 13th Age monsters. Have fun.

Rules Issues Not Covered by 2E Itself

Multiclassing

Our current multiclassing rules are in 13 True Ways. We didn’t design 2E looking carefully at the multiclass rules, but they more or less still accomplish what we hoped. We wouldn’t be surprised if you run into some issues, and our own playtesting in late 2025 is gonna involve multiclasses.

How does multiclassing work?

• Although players can always work with the GM to swap talents between 13th Ageclasses, 13 True Ways brought official multiclassing rules to the game. Multiclassing rules are handled on a class-by-class basis, where class-specific rules trump the general multiclassing rules.

Can I multiclass between three classes?

• Given the amount of flexibility and customization already built into 13th Age, we chose to limit multiclassing to two classes.

Can my multiclass character apply [thing from one class] to [thing from another class]?

• You can’t apply a talent, feat, or class feature to a spell or attack from a different class.(Some multiclass feats might break this general rule.) For example:

A barbarian/rogue who is raging makes barbarian attacks, rolling 2d20s to hit — but can’t add rogue Sneak Attack damage on top of the barbarian melee attack.

A sorcerer/wizard or sorcerer/cleric can’t gather power as a sorcerer and then get double damage casting a spell from their other class.

If a shifter druid multiclasses, does Beast Form attack do reduced damage?

• If you have a multiclass shifter druid in your game, take the Beast Form attack damage down to 1d8 per level on an even hit and 1d4 per level on an odd hit. The point of the multiclass weapon damage penalty is to limit characters that get to roll another damage die every level — because multiclass spellcasters are definitely getting their damage penalized by casting spells a level behind. That’s why the multiclass monk’s attacks are specifically called out on page 110 of 13 True Ways as taking a damage penalty, and in hindsight the shifter druid should have had the same call-out.

Are there any typos we should know about in the 13 True Ways multiclassing rules?

• In our first printing of 13TW, the Key Modifier Table on page 107 has two typos at the bottom for the Sorcerer/Fighter and the Wizard/Fighter. The Sorcerer/Fighter should be Str/Cha and the Wizard/Fighter should be Str/Int. We got it right on the mirror-listings for the Fighter/Sorcerer and the Fighter/Wizard higher up the table.

DRUIDS

If a shifter druid multiclasses, does Beast Form attack do reduced damage?

• If you have a multiclass shifter druid in your game, take the Beast Form attack damage down to 1d8 per level on an even hit and 1d4 per level on an odd hit. The point of the multiclass weapon damage penalty is to limit characters that get to roll another damage die every level — because multiclass spellcasters are definitely getting their damage penalized by casting spells a level behind. That’s why the multiclass monk’s attacks are specifically called out on page 110 of 13 True Ways as taking a damage penalty, and in hindsight the shifter druid should have had the same call-out.

NECROMANCERS

How does initiative work when a necromancer uses Summon Undead to summon Blackamber skeletal warrior mooks? The summoning rules state, “The summoned creature continues to take its turn immediately after you (even if your initiative order changes) until the end of the battle.” But the description of the Blackamber skeletal warrior in 13 True Ways says that on a natural 16+ with its shortsword attack, each Blackamber skeletal warrior in the battle moves up 1d4 points in initiative order.

• Go ahead and let the summoned Blackamber skeleton warriors increase their initiative as stated. In this regard, it’s different from other summoned creatures.

BOOK OF DEMONS

• Hey, there are some mistakes in the Book of Demons text. What’s up with that?
• Yeah, we missed a few things, sorry. The errata is available as a PDF on the product page, and is reprinted here:
  • Page 4: Actually there were ten symbols we used from the Creative Commons Game-Icons site. The one that get didn’t get named here in the credits was the Cultist by Lorc.
  • Pages 14, 21, 29: Each of the three Path Level Progression Tables has a cell that’s probably not necessary, the spot that lists the spells for a hypothetical multiclassing fanatic of that path. As acknowledged on page 33, that’s technically not possible, since fanatics use all three talents. So it’s a mistake to have listed spells for these impossible characters, though Rob admits he doesn’t feel entirely bad about it, given the weird things that can happen in 13^thAge
  • Page 17:The carrion screech epic feat should read like this:
  • Epic Feat: When the spell makes a target vulnerable, that target is also hampered.
  • Page 20:Flame Bonus Spell looks like a talent, when actually it’s information flowing out of the Bonus Summoning Spell feature for the flame path that appears on page 19.
  • This is a header mistake. The Flame Bonus Spell header should be much bigger than the talent headers, but it appeared at the same size. The other two paths got it right.
  • Page 31:The 9^th level version of follow the blood is an improvement for non-devotees but makes no sense for devotees. That’s a mistake. Instead, the 9^th level version of the spell should read like this:
  • 9^thlevel spell     The spell becomes recharge 6+ for non-devotees. Slaughter path devotees instead gain a daily use of the spell in addition to their once per battle uses of the spell.
  • Page 32:As written, the two feats that accompany the altar reversal spell are nearly useless. To ensure your ally has a chance to use the attack and vulnerability bonus, put the words “until the end of your next turn” at the end of both the feats. Yes, since the epic feat now extends the bonuses for you as well as for your ally, this should allow you to take out your own summoned slaughter demon on your next turn, as well, and get the save to see if you regain the spell.
  • Page 33:The Demonologist Multiclass Key Modifier Table didn’t mention slaughter path initiates because a multiclass slaughter path initiate is also going to be a corruption path or fire path initiate, and they’re already on the table. But that wasn’t easy to notice, nope. So here’s clarification: all three initiates are covered by the left column. Only the slaughter path devotee gets the more warlike column on the right.
  • Page 57:The haunt hound’s Ghosts of the Heath ability is missing a number. It should read, “The spirits of the slain work for the demons now. Each ghost a PC is haunted by reduces the effect of any recoveries they use by 2 hit points”

I have a question not covered by this FAQ?

For the quickest response, email us at support@pelgranepress.com. You can also try asking our fantastic fan communities on the 13th Age Discord and 13th Age Facebook Group.