13th Age – My D & D Next And Show Me Your Escalation Dice

13th Age is coming and it is likely my personal „D & D Next“! The final Escalation edition (v6) has been released a few weeks ago and should be right now in layout for the upcoming print version early next year by Pelgrane Press.

Today, I saw coincidentally the Escalation dice for our games. I had to buy them – they needed a new home.

Wizards of the Coast currently damages their own brand with a poorly organized play test and a bad transition from the 4th Edition to whatever.
Pathfinder by Paizo was and is nothing for me – just an uncreative money hungry new editon of Dungeons & Dragons 3.5. Most of the time they do a dull rehash of books and products that already exist. In my opinion a game for tiring and fanciless rules lawyers. Sorry, I have to be straight on this. I really do not understand the ongoing hype …

Luckily, there is a new dragon icon coming. 13th Age is for me a love letter to the origin of this kind of roleplaying. Everybody can see the DNA or the roots, but Rob Heinso, Jonathan Tweet and the team do their own more personal recreation of the „good“ old D & D and opens the core concepts of this classic to very cool indie game ideas (fail forward, broad backgrounds, etc.).

Usually I prefer other games or gaming styles like Cyberpunk, Feng Shui, Warhammer, Call of Cthulhu etc., but 13th Age brings me back to the dusty dungeons and the traditional stereotypes with helpfull suggestions and a smile on my lips.

13th Age is not for everyone, but for me it touches an inportant nerve: Less cumbersome rules, more inspiration, more discussion of ideas and hopefully more fun at the gaming table. Reading the rules is a lot of fun so far! I will do my first character next (and/or hopefully an interview).

Show me your Escalation dice!

Sources:
13th Age product page by Pelgrane Press

Image:
Escaltion dice (private image)

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