New to Sly Flourish? Start Here or subscribe to the newsletter.
13th Age with Rob Heinsoo
by Mike on 12 November 2013
I recently had the opportunity to spend 90 minutes talking to Rob Heinsoo about how to run 13th Age games. You can watch the entire interview on Youtube. Take a look!
Here are some highlights!
- The Icon system went through many revisions over the playtests.
- The current iteration is the one Rob and Jonathan had been using the most at their tables.
- The current writeup on Icons in the 13th Age book isn't the last word. Expect to see more on Icon rolls in 13 True Ways and in other venues.
- The biggest trap in the world is feeling like you have to address every icon roll. It's not a to-do list.
- Use Icon rolls as a way to help PCs do awesome things when the dice don't agree, even in combat.
- Group up successful icon rolls across the table into bigger events that steer the adventure.
- Have players decide how Icon rolls come into effect.
- Tie icon rolls directly to a PC's one unique thing.
- Use the "Dicy Move" on page 164 to give a 50/50 shot to do something weird or cool in a battle.
I also had the opportunity to write a guest article on the Pelgrane website entitled "A 4e Player's Guide to 13th Age" that describes what D&D 4th Edition players and GMs can expect from 13th Age. If you haven't figured it out, I'm a big fan of this version of our favorite fantasy RPG.
Related Articles
- 13th Age Icon Roll Benefits
- Limiting 13th Age Icons for Short Campaigns
- Rewarding Loot with Icon Rolls
Subscribe to Sly Flourish
Subscribe to the weekly Sly Flourish newsletter and receive a free adventure generator PDF!
More from Sly Flourish
Sly Flourish's Books
- City of Arches
- Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master
- Lazy DM's Companion
- Lazy DM's Workbook
- Forge of Foes
- Fantastic Lairs
- Ruins of the Grendleroot
- Fantastic Adventures
- Fantastic Locations
Share this article by copying this link: https://slyflourish.com/13th_age_with_heinsoo.html
Have a question or want to contact me? Check out Sly Flourish's Frequently Asked Questions.
This work is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International license. It allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, for noncommercial purposes only by including the following statement in the new work:
This work includes material taken from SlyFlourish.com by Michael E. Shea available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International license.
This site uses affiliate links to Amazon and DriveThruRPG. Thanks for your support!
