Flame & Ice

We're extremely happy that 13th Age core books are now shipping to people who pre-ordered as part of the Escalation Edition, to other Pelgrane pre-orders, and to those of you who asked for the core book as part of your 13 True Ways Kickstarter rewards. For people who didn't pre-order, the game should be in stores the first week of August. I believe the official street date is August 5th.

FLAME:  Here's a look at the t-shirt design that's exclusively for 13 True Ways backers who signed on for the shirt. We promised that it would be exclusive when we did the Kickstarter, so much as I'd like the shirt to be a more-distributed thing now that I can see how cool it is, it's not.

The slogan, in case it's not entirely clear, speaks in the voice of the Great Gold Wyrm, holding the barricades against the Abyss: I am the Shield, you are the Sword, we are the Flame. They shall not pass. 

The mix of art and t-shirt color is the full design, we're not doing other colors for this one. And in case you were wondering where the logo was hiding.....

ICE: Our friends at Sasquatch Game Studio are producing a sword and sorcery d20-mechanic sourcebook where the defenders are more like Conan and the ultimate villains are more like Cthulhu. I'm curious to see what Primeval Thule ends up doing with icons in a world touched by Lovecraft, Merritt, and Clark Ashton-Smith, since a 13th Age-compatible version is part of the Sasquatch plan. They have 7 days left on their Kickstarter, check them out here. 

Three Surprises

I'm working on the 13th Age Bestiary today with 13th Age's developer, Rob Watkins. Whenever the two of us say "Yes yes yes!" while working on monsters you can be sure it's going to be entertaining trouble for PCs. Or maybe just trouble, given that we're working on mechanics for red dragons and rust monsters. 

I haven't been blogging lately and want that to change, but for the moment I'm just going to mention three recent 13th Age-related surprises. 

1. The EN World poll for most anticipated RPG of 2013

I've rarely experienced the cliche of having my jaw drop. But that's what happened as I watched the results of the poll. We're in great company and this has been splendid motivation in the weeks before the game releases into print. 

2. A Bestiary preview

Our redcap fits into impossibly small spaces and bursts out by surprise. This morning he showed up exploding from a cupboard in a preview on EN World, art by Rich Longmore. I decided to use this entry by Kevin Kulp because I wanted to preview something funny. Other entries vary widely in tone and style but the redcap serves as a good example of the more detailed treatment that Ken Hite decided we would give monsters in the Bestiary--more details and ideas to inspire GMs and players instead of the just-the-stats approach used in the core book. 

3. Primeval Thule Kickstarter

It's gratifying when friends who are excellent designers decide to use 13th Age as one of the systems they'll support with their swords-and-tentacles RPG sourcebook. Sasquatch Game Studio's' first Kickstarter will include 13th Age-compatible game material set in a different world, a world that's more Conan vs. Cthulhu than the Archmage vs. the Diabolist. I am looking forward to seeing what Rich Baker, Dave Noonan, and Steve Schubert do with icons in a new and very different world. The Kickstarter runs another couple weeks. Check it out, either for 13th Age, for Pathfinder, for 4e, or for all three.