Group RP Shadowport Shuffle Characters and OOC

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Group RP Shadowport Shuffle Characters and OOC

Baxter Peters

Baxter Peters

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In this 13th Age group game, the PCs are all people who either owe favors or want a favor from the Prince of Shadows. it's set in the fantasy city of Shadowport, a thriving trade metropolis cast in perpetual shadow by a magical caul over the city.

Shadowport is a city of thieves and smugglers. It's a dark, unforgiving place filled with intrigue, danger, and opportunity for those brave or cunning enough to take advantage. It's fantasy Gotham without Batman and a safe haven for rogues when the rest of the Dragon Empire gets too hot. All sorts of fantasy races live in Shadowport, which is more accepting of the Strange than more staid settlements. In Shadowport, people are primarily judged by the value they bring, not their heritage.

As a result of the players and characters I've received so far, the Player characters are all to be female and preferably elven. Not to fetishize female elves, just because we have a 'Charlie's Angels' vibe going and I like the idea of badass female adventurers being awesome.
 
WHAT IS 13TH AGE?

13th Age is a fantasy RPG, much like D&D. (In fact, it was written by several of 3e D&D's designers!) It came out after 4e D&D but before 5e D&D. If you've played any version of D&D or Pathfinder, you're in for a pretty familiar ride. Big picture, they're very similar.

So why this instead of D&D? I really like some of the ideas in 13th Age, many of which involve putting more narrative control in the hands of the players. I could just steal those and incorporate them into a D&D game, but there's enough interesting stuff that I wanted to give their whole system a try.

All the usual fantasy character tropes are there -- if you want to play a dwarven warrior or elvish wizard, those are options. (If you come up with a more unusual character concept, we can probably find a way to make it work.) Basically, I'd encourage you to come up with an idea for a character that seems fun and interesting and we'll figure out how to make it with the rules, rather than approaching it the other way around.

(I will say that compared to D&D and Pathfinder, non-spellcasters feel perhaps slightly more complicated to play and spellcasters feel much less complicated to play.)

There are three 13th Age-specific features that may be useful in coming up with a character concept: the One Unique Thing, Backgrounds, and Icons.

ONE UNIQUE THING

Every player character (PC) in 13th Age has a One Unique Thing, which is, predictably, a thing about them that makes them unique. I usually describe it as being like one of the bridge crew on the Enterprise: I am the only klingon in Starfleet. I am an android with a positronic brain. I was born blind, but I can see because of this special visor I wear. Et cetera.

A few examples from the book: "I am the bastard son of the Emperor." "I am an incarnation of an ancient hero, and I'm sure that destiny has brought me back for a reason." "I was the rudest lady-in-waiting of the Imperial Court." "I cut off my own arm just to show how tough I am." "I have a clockwork heart made by the dwarves." "I am the only human child of a zombie mother."

Basically, the sky's the limit here for how crazy you want to be. The "narrative control by players" I mentioned earlier comes into play here too: if you want to be the only dwarf to ever serve in the Emperor's army, then you get to make that a part of the world. The main caveats are that it shouldn't be combat-focused and it shouldn't provide a specific mechanical benefit: "I always succeed on stealth checks" isn't okay, but we could work with "I'm a living shadow" or something similarly outlandish.

Also, it doesn't have to be totally outlandish or unique -- it can be as mundane as "I'm really good looking and people treat me better than I deserve because of it." The important thing is that it's something distinguishing about your character that you find interesting.

BACKGROUNDS

Modern D&D and Pathfinder have lists of skills that a character can train in 13th Age doesn't define skills, instead, the player will define their character's various backgrounds and assign points to those backgrounds. Then, when a character performs a task that could benefit from their experiences, they get that background's bonus. So, let's say you want to make a classic style rogue. In Pathfinder, you'd probably put points in Disable Device, Perception and Stealth, along with some Climb, Bluff, Sleight of Hand, whatever. In 13th Age, you just create a background. It could be as simple as Thief, a little more meaty like Shadowport Guild Thief or even False Noble Con Artist. While those are all 'thief' backgrounds, they're all a little different. A Shadowport Guild thief could apply their bonus to know specifics about Shadowport for example. The False Noble could apply their bonus for various social interactions where having people believe you're a noble is handy.

Backgrounds are not class specific. So if you want to be a paladin who used to be a Thieves' Guild Urchin, you don't forget hot to pick locks or pockets just because you're a paladin now. Thinking about your character's backgrounds not only gives the GM good story hooks for your character, but gives the character mechanical bonuses in play. And they're completely customizable, so the character reflects your vision, not the designer's vision for your class.

ICONS

The Icons are the major players/political forces in the world. All are based on well-recognized fantasy tropes. Every PC has some existing relationship with one or more of the Icons, which can be positive or negative. If your character serves a cause (or fights against one) then there's a good chance it'll involve one of the Icons. You don't need to figure out your relationships with all of the Icons, but if there's one or two that catches your fancy, you can incorporate them into your story.

There are thirteen Icons, as follows:

  • The Emperor, ruler of the world's greatest human kingdom, the Dragon Empire

  • The Archmage, master of great and terrible arcane magic

  • The Dwarf King, ruler of the dwarves' new home under the mountains

  • The Elf Queen, leader of the three races of elves: wood elves, high elves, and dark elves

  • The High Druid, champion of the Wild and controller of powerful natural forces

  • The Priestess, oracle and speaker for all of the Gods of Light

  • The Great Gold Wyrm: metallic dragons are good, and the Great Gold Wyrm is the most ancient and powerful living metallic dragon

  • The Three: chromatic dragons are evil, and the Red, Black, and Blue were among the first dragons to walk the world. Each is individually less powerful than the Great Gold Wyrm, but when they can put aside their differences, the Three are a force to be reckoned with.

  • The Crusader: the armored fist of the Dark Gods, the quintessential "anti-paladin"

  • The Diablolist: controls fiends and tampers with forces even the Archmage avoids

  • The Lich King: the lord of the undead, who seeks to destroy the Dragon Empire

  • The Orc Lord: commander of legions of orcish warriors

  • The Prince of Shadows: part thief, part trickster, and part assassin, the Prince of Shadows is Loki and the Monkey King rolled into one. None know the Prince's ultimate goals or motivations.
 
Useful 13th Age Links

The 13th Age System Reference Document - This webpage has just about everything you need to know to make a character for 13th Age.

Online Character Generator - There are various excel spreadsheets out there that will help you build your character, but this one is hosted, online, and will allow you to print direct from the webpage. It'll also save to Google Drive. The sheet will also do your math for you, although you will need the SRD to do things like pick spells, talents, feats, etc.

The Official 13th Age Resources hosted by Pelgrane Press - All sorts of goodies here, but of particular interest for folks could be the various Pregenerated Characters. If you know nothing about roleplaying games or 13th Age, but you like this idea, you could take any of the /many/ level 2 characters on this page and make it your own. We can also customize and tweak the characters to make it more enjoyable for you.
 
The Three Shards of the Elven People

The Elf Queen wears a crown of three parts: black amethyst and obsidian for the dark elves, green emerald and flowering plants for the wood elves, and diamond and force magic for the high elves. When the elves were truly unified, they referred to themselves as the three branches of the elves, but since the war with the dwarves it became customary to refer to themselves as the three Shards of the Crown.

Even though her crown remains whole, the Queen herself uses the term. At first she used it sardonically, chiding her people for their animosities. But words used sarcastically have a way of sticking if they're true, and the shorthand method of referring to one of the three branches of the elves is to call them shards.

Dark Elves
Within the Queen's Court, the dark elves are referred to by the name they use for themselves, the Silver Folk. Outside the Court, the use of the term Silver Folk is extremely polite, or ironic. Most surface dwellers refer to them as dark elves or drow, interchangeably.

Dark elves are not uniformly evil. Drow society varies from entirely evil to merely cruel. That said, it's almost a point of pride among dark elves that some of the world's greatest villains have come from their race, to the point that even a goodly hearted drow may end up arguing that her race's despotic overlord was far more powerful than another race's former tyrant.

Use the flavor of evil you like best for dark elves and allow your players with drow characters to be part of groups from the fringe or isolated settlements that differ from the norm. Compared to the dark elves of some fantasy worlds, the Silver Folk can be trusted to the extent that they are mostly loyal, in some strange or disgusting way, to their Queen. The Queen's critics point out that it takes a twisted and capricious monarch to engage the affections of the dark elves—you can't win when you are Queen of three feuding races.

High Elves

The high elves are sometimes called light elves. Their term for themselves means both high and light. Humans hearing that description often supply "sky" as a better translation and are told "No, either high or light, not sky," which is apparently reserved for creatures of the overworld. High elves in your game might have markedly different eyes when they've been using magical power, and you can call them by whatever name works best for you.

Wood Elves

The wood elves are known as the gray elves in the oldest texts, but they grew out of the name, which appears to have been an early Elf King's idea of a logical transition between light and dark. Some humans call them the green elves. Wood elves resisted that name until recently, when some wood elves associated with the High Druid began using the term "green elf," or "wild elf," to distinguish themselves from elves who do not follow the High Druid. Green and wild are presently considered impolite terms at the Court of Stars.

Elven Woods

What outsiders think: Elven woods are full of giant trees. Their coloration starts as normal brown on the fringe, but may be white, silver, red, or golden as you go deeper into the forest. Wood elves in the area will usually know if outsiders are present. High elves sometimes live among these woods, near the center of the forest, and dark elves can occasionally be found there as well.

What elves know: The perfect elven wood is a harmonious three-part city in the key of nature. Wood elves live in and among the great trees, in tents pitched around the trunks or in more permanent houses set high in the branches.

The dark elves live in the giant caverns and twisting labyrinths carved out within and below the great trees' roots. The spiral towers of the high elves rear above the green canopy. The lives of the three Shards of the Crown are mostly separate, but together they weave magic that strengthens the wood and increases every elf 's fortune.

That's the dream at least. In practice, the harmony between the three elven shards broke after the war with the dwarves. Elven woods still have all three layers of elves, at least in sections of the woods. But few such woods are populated throughout, and if wood elves and high elves populate the trees and towers, it's unlikely that the dark elves will live beneath them. Conversely, where dark elves are prosperous, high elves may be able to live by keeping their distance in the high towers, but wood elves are likely to be scarce.

Without harmony between the three shards of the elves, their perfect woods are seldom perfectly maintained. High elves may perform astrological observations from their high towers, or, just as likely, gargoyles will be using the ruins of the towers as lookout perches for an evil cult. Wood elves may dwell within the trees' high branches, or the hunters that track their prey among the forest may be bugbears and dragons. Dark elves may cluster with their spiders in temples and arenas below the trees' roots, or the catacombs in those deep places may be populated by owlbears and ghosts.
 
THE PRINCE OF SHADOWS

princeofshadows.jpg

The Prince of Shadows is a trickster whose exploits reshape the world nearly as often as they redistribute its wealth. He has squandered the riches of the dwarves, murdered the hopes of a dragon, and plundered the dreams of a god. His exploits have changed the world, but none can tell you his ultimate goals or motives.

Your attitude toward the Prince of Shadows depends on how you feel about anarchy, and perhaps how you feel about anarchy happening to you.

Quote
"Don't bother thanking me, I already thanked myself to your gold and your lover's heart."

Common Knowledge

Not everyone believes there is a Prince of Shadows. This works out extremely well for the Prince. He doesn't care about getting credit for his exploits. Consequently, there are places where he's blamed for every major theft, and other places where he's viewed as an invention of the Thieves' Guilds to cover their tracks.

Adventurers & the Icon

Adventurers sometimes work for the Prince of Shadows without ever knowing it. In some sense, anyone who accepts one of his gifts is doing the Prince's work. Other adventurers like the Prince's style and aim to further his schemes, but that's a shifty path and what works for an icon can often as not walk an adventurer into a wall of swords.

Allies

The Diabolist has profited from certain of the Prince's "transactions," but the Priestess, at least, believes that the Prince stole more from the Diabolist than the Diabolist suspects. Who can say?

Enemies

The Dwarf King has offered a king's-ransom in platinum for the Prince of Shadows' head, but no one knows why. The Archmage has tried to retrieve certain stolen artifacts from the Prince, but hasn't claimed success in the endeavor.

History

Shadowy figures appear on the margins of official histories. Some of these mysterious figures are previous incarnations of the Prince of Shadows in other guises with other names.

The True Danger

If the Prince of Shadows ever ends up leading the forces of evil, it's going to be bad news.
 
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My Beautiful Sheet!

NAME : Ularia "Lyra"
RACE : High Elf
LEVEL : 2
CLASS: Occultist
ARMOR: light

ABILITES
STR: 8 (-1) +1
CON 12 (1) +3
DEX 12 (1) +3
INT 17 (3) +5
WIS 16 (3) +5
CHA 14 (2) +4

DEFENSES
AC 14
PD 13
MD 16

ATTACKS
Melee +5 vs AC : 2d8+3 : 2
Ranged +3 vs AC : 2d4+1: 0

HEALTH
Max Hit Points: 28
Recoveries: 8
Recovery: 2d6+1 (avg. 7)

Racial Power: Highblood Teleport (High Elf)

ONE UNIQUE THING
[Redacted] :)

Icon Relationships
The Elf Queen: 2 (positive)
The Three: 1 (negative)

BACKGROUNDS
Dragon Lore: 5
Forbidden Knowledge: 2
History: 3

Class Features
Arcane Implements
Delayed Magical Healing
Focus and Spellcasting
Rebuke
Spell Choices and Flexible Recharge
Uniqueness

Powers & Spells
Better Yet, Here
Bitter Lessons
Brilliant Comeback
Inevitable Fall
Moment of Karma
Karmic Rebuke (from the Rebuke class feature)

Magic Items

Talents
Brain Melting Secrets
Hewer of Truth
Otherworld Shadow
Warp Flesh

Feats
Linguist (A): speak all humanoid languages well enough
Further Backgrounding (A): +2 Background Points

Equipment
melee: longsword
ranged: dagger(throwing) X 2
light armor: padded cloth
standard traveling gear
set of good clothes
embroidered robe (occultist)
secret scrolls (occultist)
runic vestments (occultist)
A small vial of thick, red coppery fluid, that when consumed, will allow her to spew forth a wave of acid.
Attack: +5 vs PD against 1d3 nearby enemies in a group.
Damage: 4d6 acid damage
On a hit of 16+, the target suffers ongoing acid damage 5, save ends.

Funds
Gold- 8, silver- 50, copper- 0

16307-jpg.8187
 
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6642f60bb91883ad12a2bf73225f0a42.jpg
NAME: Ohanna (Oh-awn-ah)
RACE: Wood Elf
LEVEL: 2
CLASS: Druid
ARMOUR: Light (Hide)

ABILITIES
STR 16 (+3) 5
CON 14 (+2) 4
DEX 16 (+3) 5
INT 10 (+0) 2
WIS 14 (+2) 4
CHA 10 (+0) 2

DEFENSES
AC 18 (12 light armour +4 mod +2 level)
PD 17 (10 base +5 mod +2 level)
MD 14 (10 base +2 mod +2 level)

ATTACKS
Melee Attack ~ (3+2=5) Vs AC Shortsword 2D6 +3 : 2
Ranged Attack ~ (3+2=5) Vs AC Shortbow 2D6 +3 : 0
Spell Attack ~ Vs PD/MD
Beast Form Attack ~ (3+2=5) Vs AC

HEALTH
Max Hit Points: (4*(7+2)) = 36
Recoveries: 8
Recovery: 2d10+2

Racial Power:
Elven Grace (wood elf):


ONE UNIQUE THING
Spirit Child: Ohanna has no parents. It is believed she was a manifestation of the Spirits, simply created rather than born.

Icon Relationships (3 points)
The High Druid (2 points/Positive)
The Lich King (1 Point/Negative)

BACKGROUNDS
Tree Life (2): from as early as she could remember Ohanna has felt comfortable in the trees. From climbing, swinging, jumping and acrobatics she's always been at home in the forest.
Surviving the Wilds (4): Ohanna has lived in the wilds for most of her early life. As such she was forced to learn to hunt and forage. Nature lore quickly became a part of her life and early education.
Entertainer (2): Ohanna has a naturally beautiful singing voice. She can also dance, hold a beat and play a few magical instruments. Though she doesn't know why, her mentor forced her to perform whenever they found themselves in civilized locals.

Class Features
Divine Implements
Attack Ability: Strength (Melee)
Endurance/Survival
Speak with Plants and Animals

Magical Items:
--4 specially enchanted berries. Each will act as an Adventurer Tier Healing Potion. (Consume to heal a recovery +1d8HPs.) They're also delicious and filling.
-- Swan Feather- Shift into Swan Form

Talents
Shifter: Adept (Scout Form 1/day, Beast Form At-Will, Aspects 2)
Warrior Druid: Initiate (AC with Light Armour 12; Flexible Attacks: Beast Spirits & Resilience)

Feats
Warrior Druid-Adventure Feat
Beast Form Attack-Adventurer Feat

Equipment
Class Basics – Light Armour, Short Sword, Short Bow with Quiver and 12 arrows.
Background Items – Pan flute.
Purchased Items – Flint and tinder box, Pack and travelling satchel, Elven Rain Cloak, water skin, Rope elven 50', Dagger, Pipe and pipeweed (10), Travelling Satchel, Sleeping Roll, Blanket


Funds
Gold-37 , Silver-4, Copper-
 
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My BeautifulStolen Sheet!

NAME : Phaedra Arabani
RACE : Dark Elf
LEVEL : 2
CLASS: Wizard
ARMOUR: None!

ABILITIES
STR 8 (-1) 1
CON 14 (+2) 4
DEX 15 (+2) 4
INT 19 (+4) 6
WIS 12 (+1) 3
CHA 8 (-1) 1

DEFENCES
AC 14
PD 14
MD 15

ATTACKS
Melee Attack ~ (-1+2) Vs AC
Ranged Attack ~ (2+2) Vs AC
Spell Attack ~ (4+2) Vs PD/MD

HEALTH
Max Hit Points: (4*(6+2)) = 32
Recoveries: 8
Recovery: 2d6+2

Racial Power:
Cruel (Dark Elf) - As a free action, once per battle, deal ongoing damage to a target hit with a natural even attack roll. Damage is equal to 5 times character level (10)

ONE UNIQUE THING
What an enchanting ring ~ Phaedra is always wearing a strange ring hewn from some bright green stone. She found it one night after waking from strange dreams, having fallen asleep across a text about astral projection, and the far realms. She rarely takes it off, and it seems to glow whenever she casts a spell, the intensity of the light reflecting how powerful the spell is, though even cantrips will cause a glow, albeit a very dim one. She's not sure what it does, or where it came from, or even who left it in her care, but it's become something of a safety blanket to her.


Icon Relationships
The Prince of Shadows - (1/Conflicted) - While Phaedra has been a pawn of the Prince longer than she knows, she currently does his dirty work in the hope that he will wipe her reputation clean.
The Archmage - (1/Conflicted) - Phaedra has something of an unfortunate reputation among the Imperial Wizards. She doesn't like to talk about why.
The Dwarf King - (1/Negative) - Not that the Dwarf King even knows her name, but she represents a collection of things he has good reason to dislike.

BACKGROUNDS
Bookworm - Int/Wis - Phaedra was an intelligent, awkward youth who, tormented by her peers and siblings for her weakness and nature, spent a lot of her time reading, even before she began her study of magic.
Avid Arcanist - Int/Wis - Phaedra sees magic as her only real power, HER sword or bow or fist. She strives to be a master in its many aspects, and her breadth of magical knowledge is impressive for someone of her experience.
Runt - Dex/Wis - Before she learned to cast her first spells, Phae relied on stealth to keep herself and her possessions safe from her sisters. She still walks softly wherever she goes out of habit.

Class Features
Cantrips
Cyclic Spells
Overworld Advantage
Ritual Magic

Powers & Spells
Wizard Spells
Utility Spells
Cantrips
Counter-spell
Cantrip-like effects

Magic Items
Nuffing

Talents
Abjuration
Cantrip Mastery
High Arcana

Feats
Abjuration (A)
Utility Spells (A)

Equipment
Class Basics - a travelling robe, a dress robe, a mediocre wand, a variety of ritual casting components
Background Items - Avimund's Guide to Wild Flora, a spellbook (Adventurer), a kris dagger, a staff, a spell component pouch belt
Purchased Items - Backpack, sleeping roll, Elven rain cloak, glass flask, 3 candles, 20 uses of pipeweed, a wooden pipe, a large tent, a bottle of poor-quality Elven wine


Funds
Gold- 12, Silver-3, Copper- 2

View attachment 8265
Description to come!
 
What a lovely group of characters! Are we waiting on a specific number of players you might have in mind @Baxter Peters or is it more like a waiting for a certain amount of time before this thing takes off? No rush, I'm just curious is all!
 
Usually table groups are between 4-6 players, but I think Bax is probably working on the fine points of the adventure at the moment, building wonderful and enticing plot hooks for us to avoid, overlook, or mess up somehow :P It's tradition.
 
I wouldn't mind a 4th, but I'll probably kick us off before long. Tomorrow, we'll do some OOC housekeeping.
 
I get the feeling we're going to have some rather interesting conversations!

Quick rules question, if I may. Beast Form Attack says on a Natural Even Hit it causes certain damage, and on an Natural Odd Hit it causes different damage. Should I assume they're talking about the actual number on the dice? For example an 18 on a dice (assuming its a hit) would be considered a Natural Even hit right? 17 on the dice would be Natural Odd Hit?
 
I'm just desperately looking forward to the first attempt and NPC makes to flirt with them ... like

Ohanna - >whispers< Why is his eye doing that?
Phaedra - >whispers back< Some people, I've read, suffer from twitches as a result of mental illness.
Ohanna - >continues to whisper< He's crazy? But he seemed so nice, giving us that big discount, and a hug ...
Phaedra - >doesn't realize she's stopped whispering< Actually, now the hugging makes a lot more sense ... I mean, what sane person seeks out physical contact?
Ohanna - >staring< ... that's so sad ... >hugs<
Winky-Man - Mmmmm *wiggles eyebrows*
Phaedra - >loud whispering, pushing at Ohanna to get away< Stop it, it's making him worse!
 
Angel of Mercy said:
I get the feeling we're going to have some rather interesting conversations!

Quick rules question, if I may. Beast Form Attack says on a Natural Even Hit it causes certain damage, and on an Natural Odd Hit it causes different damage. Should I assume they're talking about the actual number on the dice? For example an 18 on a dice (assuming its a hit) would be considered a Natural Even hit right? 17 on the dice would be Natural Odd Hit?
Click to expand...


Number on the die, correct.
 
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