13th Age Icons for D&D Next - The Great Gold Wyrm

I wanted to do something a little different with the Great Gold Wyrm.  I like the idea of the Wyrm somehow being responsible for holding back the insinuations of the Abyss/Netherworld, but the whole "physically blocking the gap, plus using powers in other places" idea didn't quite strike a chord with me.

Instead, I thought it would be interesting to do something a bit more in the mythological vein of Ra or Tonatiuh - a daily struggle tied to the solar cycle.  So here it is:

The Great Gold Wyrm

Alishaz, Light of the World

Usual Location: Tirasea from dawn until dusk, the Abyss from dusk until dawn.

Common Knowledge:  The Wyrm sacrifices itself anew each day to prevent the release of the demons and to ensure that the sun will rise.  Each evening he flies into the Pit with the setting of the sun, to battle the demons of the underworld until the sun rises again and he rises, renewed.

Alishaz is bound by the ancient Treaty with the Dragon Emperor, and his children, the Jade and Vermillion Drakes, go to serve in the court of the Dragon Emperor of Ruy.

Adventurers:  The Wyrm (or priests of the Wyrm) will sometimes use adventurers to deal with underworld plots and schemes that threaten the diurnal balance.  

Allies: The Archmage, the Emperor, The Priestess.  The Dwarf King, Elf Queen and High Druid all respect the importance of Alishaz’s duties.

Enemies: The Diabolist seeks to break the ancient balance and unleash the full might of the underworld.  But not really, since she wants to rule, not destroy the world.  The Three hate and fear the Wyrm, but rarely agree enough to challenge him.

History: The Great Gold Wyrm was created by an Archmage in the 2^nd Age, together with the Priest of that Age.  They bound the power of the Sun God, Mithras, and created the Great Gold Wyrm to end the incursion of the Netherworld opened by the Diablolist of that age.  Since that time, the Wyrm has fought to maintain the diurnal balance.

One True Danger:  Light and Darkness are 2 sides of the same coin.  If the Black is ever able to fully unlock the power of the Netherworld (with the help of the Diabolist?), then it could join the diurnal battle and swing it to the side of the Netherworld.

13th Age Icons for D&D Next: Dwarves - the Emperor

The second +13th Age icon in the series:

The Emperor

 Ralshaz VII, Dragon Emperor of Ruywick.  Last of the House of Ruy.

Usual Location: Ruywick, in Palace of Jade and Vermillion.

Common Knowledge: Ralshaz recently ascended the throne of the Dragon Emperor and many already consider him to be a throwback to the mighty emperors of old.  Ralshaz is a powerful warrior who often leads his legions in person.  He was raised by The Archmage, far from the intrigues of the Imperial Court, and reportedly has little patience for politics or statecraft.

Adventurers:  Ralshaz prefers to use the Imperial Army and the Greycloaks (Scout Battalion) for his business, but occasionally, a less obvious touch is called for.  For sensitive tasks requiring deniability, adventurers are recruited.  He is particularly interested in the Wild Lands to the west, and is actively recruiting adventurers for operations there.

Allies: The Archmage is his mentor and confidant, the Priestess, and through ancient treaty, the Great Old Wyrm.

Enemies: The Dwarf King, The Diabolist, The Lich King, The Three, The Pirate Queen, The Orc Lord (traditionally).

History: Ralshaz' grandfather, Timmurias IV, died in the field against the Orc Lord and the Horde when the eastern Empire was lost.  The Archmage used the Desolation to destroy the horde, and Ralshaz' father, Ehzaz, killed himself in horror after seeing the creation of the Desolation and the ruination it created.  His death marked the end of the 12th Age.

Ralshaz was very young at this time, and was taken from the Imperial Court and raised by the Archmage.  The is young, idealistic and intends to return the Empire to its days of glory. His plan is to conquer and colonize the Wild Lands to the west, beyond Llandy Vale.

One True Danger:  The Emperor is young and reckless, and turning the dwindling resources of the Empire to conquest might be disastrous, especially if another Orc Lord arises.

13th Age Icons for D&D Next: Dwarves - The Archmage

I really like the Icons that are presented by 13th Age.  Powerful figures that tie into the history of the

land and reappear on a recurring basis through the ages is neat, and the way they are presented gives quite a bit of scope to steal/adapt them.

So that's what I did.  This is the first in the series.  

The Archmage

Adassar, High Mage of Ruywick.  Master of the Desolation.

Usual Locations: The Tower in the heart of the Desolation of Adassar, Ruywick, the Imperial Capital, or Erith Vendi, his floating fortress.

Common Knowledge: The Archmage's magical powers have long formed a bulwark for the Empire of Ruywick, maintaining it despite it's flagging military and naval strength. He has a floating citadel, called Erith Vendi, which can appear almost anywhere.

Adventurers: In the past, the Archmage has used adventurers to retrieve arcane items and tomes, as well as support the Empire’s interests.  Now he frequently recruits them to map the borders of the Desolation, retrieve samples of the mutated creatures and plants and to destroy particularly troublesome spots.

Allies: The Emperor, the Priestess to a lesser extent, the Great Gold Wyrm.

Enemies: The Diablolist, the Lich King, the Orc Lord (if one exists), the Three.

History: Adassar has been Archmage of Ruywick for many Ages, guarding the Empire and supporting the Dragon Emperors.  In the previous Age, the Orc Lord and the Horde attacked and destroyed the eastern Empire, crushing the Imperial Army, penning up the dwarves in their mountain homes and threatening the heartland and Ruywick, the Imperial City.

To defeat them, Adassar invoked the Desolation.  The spell annihilated the orcs, but it also destroyed a great portion of the lands between Ruywick and the east, essentially cutting the imperial lands in half.  Worse yet, the Desolation is slowly growing, and Adassar now spends much of his time trying to figure out a way to stop it.

One True Danger: If the Desolation begins to expand rapidly, or a new Orc Horde approaches, Adassar may finally be overstretched.  Further, when he invoked the Desolation, Adassar alienated the High Druid, the Elf Queen and the Dwarf King, who were previously neutral towards the Empire.

D30 Day 4 - My Favorite Setting

I DMed two long-running campaigns set in the Forgotten Realms, and the Realms certainly holds a nostalgic allure for me.  Nathan and I bought the Grey Box Forgotten Realms book back when it came out, and Grunt Norak and Hadian Joyce, the dwarf berserker and half-elf bard traveled the length and breadth of the Forgotten Realms.

In university, the Mithril Gauntlet adventuring company, chartered out of Silverymoon, fought drow, orcs, giants and duergar.  They even defeated the Demoness called the Floating Dancer and battled the invasion forces from Hellgate Keep to a standstill.  The Savage North was their stomping grounds, from Luskan to Anauroch and south to Baldur's Gate.

So I am very fond of the Realms.  But after I ran the Realms campaign I fell in with another gaming group.  Nic, Greg, Tobe, James, Marc and I (with occasional cameos by a number of others) played Vampire, Warhammer and quite a bit of 2e D&D using my homebrew Celtic-inspired world.

At the time we just called it "Celtic", but in my mind it's always been called Aemere.  Aemere is post-apocalyptic iron-age and low-magic, with a setting inspired by the Chronicles of Prydain, the Mabinogion, Irish and Norse mythology and generous dashes of other stuff.

The original and best cover.

The party, led by the Bard/Ranger (he rolled REALLY GOOD STATS) Gaelan dan Brennan, fought against an evil king, led refugees, battled the Coraniaid (the Huntsmen), the Fire Mages, werewolves and demons.  I eventually screwed up so badly as a DM that the campaign fell apart, but Aemere will always be my best homebrew, and my favorite setting.

D30 Day 3 - My Favorite Class

Day 4 and I'm behind.. story of my life, I suppose.

What goes with dwarves like chocolate goes with peanut butter?  Thassright!  My favorite class.  Fighters!

Heavy Armor, Shields, ALL THE WEAPONS!  I love fighters.  Despite the fact that the fighter has always been the red-headed stepchild of D&D, especially in the 3e era (part of why I dislike 3e), I've always loved the plain old vanilla warrior.

So many cool historical characters were fighters.  Robert the Bruce, El Cid, Hector, Gustavus Adolphus, Richard the Lionhearted.  Lots of cool fighters all over the place.  When you've studied as much history as I have, the fighter really comes to the foreground, since really, it was pretty much the only class available for most of the time.

There haven't been as many great fighters in my campaigns, but Nate's Elf from high school, Galadan and Ivan from Celtic Campaign in university, and certainly Hilbo Huggins from the current Dwarves campaign all make the cut.

So let's hear it for the fighter.  The man in the trenches - taking the hits and throwing himself in front of arrows while the wizard and the cleric get all the big, showy stuff.  My favorite class.

D30 Day 2 - My Favorite Race

I like dwarves, as should be fairly obvious from the nature of my current D&D Next Playtest Campaign.  I've always been fond of dwarves, as far back as I can remember.  Heck, one of my first characters was a dwarf.  Of course, the other one was an elf, but he got eaten by a giant rat and anyways that was years ago and the girl is dead now...

Dwarves!
Maybe it's because I live in the mountains, surrounded by old silver mines.
Maybe it's because I am fond of facial hair.
Maybe it's because we owned a Jack Russell Terrier (whom I wanted to name Thorin).
Maybe it's because of Gimli, son of Gloin, or the charge of Thorin Oakenshield against the Bodyguard of Bolg.
Maybe it's because I always secretly wanted to be a blacksmith.

It's all of these things.  I like the fierce, proud, doomed lords of the mountains, with their secret crafts and hidden wonders.

Although I don't get to actually play characters much - I'm the DM, mostly - there has almost always been a dwarf PC in the party.  In high school it was Grunt Norak, the dwarven berserker, and Splint Sharpeyed, the dwarf sharpshooter.

In university it was Dobynor, the dwarven Champion of Moradin.  Our friend Dwayne has a magical RPG ability.  He can look at a pile of books, pull out one at random, open it to a random page and make a character based on that rule.  And that rule in invariably the most overpowered, munchkin-y rule in the ENTIRE SYSTEM.  The Dwarven Champion was just one example.  This 2e Kit allowed you to make a cleric with weapon specialization.  So basically a fighter who could also cast cleric spells, without having to bother with multi-classing.  So broken, but he played so recklessly that it was OK, because he did so many cool things that it was worth it.

Ahhh, dwarves.  You will always be my favorite race in D&D.

D30 Day 1: How Did You Get Started

When I was about 8, I met +Perry Jones, who has remained a friend lo these many years (about 30 years).  We went to school in Edgewood, BC - which is about as small and isolated a place as you will find, short of the Yukon or Alaska.

Edgewood school was renovating at that time, and they dumped a huge pile of dirt and rocks along one side of the playing field.  Perry and I began adventuring on these 'mountains', and explored back and forth for a big part of that year.

Later that year, I got the Dungeons and Dragons Coloring Book, which was the single most awesome thing 

that any human has ever produced.

We became really interested in D&D, but I don't think we ever actually played a game.  Until...

The next year I moved over the ferry to Fauquier, BC, where I met the Klopps.  Specifically Mike and Tony Klopp, who actually PLAYED D&D.

I wasn't the DM, so I don't know what version of D&D we were playing.  I do know that the first adventure I went on was Blizzard Pass, so I assume it was Mentzer or Holmes Basic, since it was about 1984 at this point.  I might even have been the original Basic Edition, though, since Mike and Tony had 2 older brothers who had both played too.  I made 2 characters.  A dwarf named Chainmail and an elf named Whiplash. Whiplash fell down a pit and got eaten by a giant rat, but I'm pretty sure Chainmail survived.  I was hooked.
Perry and I played lots of D&D in later years, and kept up our friendship even as we moved around.  Sadly, I've lost track of Mike and Tony Klopp, but I still remember playing D&D in the back room of their house.

A few years later I moved to New Denver, BC, and Rayn and Nathan Butt lived across the street, and they were into D&D too.  I DMed, since I was the most interested, and we played with a rotating cast of others for many years.  I still see Rayn pretty regularly, although gaming night is board games now, instead of D&D.

Starting D&D wasn't something I was introduced to.  It was something I was waiting for my whole life, without ever knowing it.  So thanks Greg Irons, and +Perry Jones, and Mike and Tony Klopp, and Rayn and Nathan Butt, and +Nic Morgan and the gaming group from university.  I'm getting towards my 4th decade of gaming, and I still have a great time each and every session.