The World of 13th Age

[Coyote]

I don't want to clutter CA$H's recruitment thread so I'm making this a second post. My vote is for 13th Age as the rules. It's a D20 system based on 3.5 but with touches of 4E. Basically it gets rid of some of the MMO feel which turned people off of 4E while maintaining the "Players get to do something cool every round" aesthetic that I liked.

The world is only outlined in broad strokes due to some mechanical integration. Within the broad strokes the GM and players decide the details.

The World of 13th Age is centered around a primarily human empire, a beacon of civilization under siege from all sides. A number of ICONS are the primary movers and manipulators in the world. There is The Emperor and his ally The Archmage. They are not the first Emperor or Archmage and they hope that they will not be the last. Outside of the Empire is the dwarf lands, where The Dwarf King rules. Similarly there is an Elven homeland where all three varieties of elf live together is a slowly crumbling balance, a balance that The Elf Queen strives to maintain. To the south is the Abyss, the gates to hell which have opened. The only reason the demons haven't claimed the land as their own is The Great Gold Wyrm, a massive and ancient golden dragon which physically holds the gates of hell.

The Dark Crusader is an unlikely ally of The Great Gold Wyrm. He worships dark gods but seeks to stamp out all demons who are the enemy of all the gods.

Meanwhile, The Diabolist attempts to open the Abyss and bring demonic domination to the world.

To the north The Orc Lord leads constant raids against the Empire. More to the east is the city of Drakenhall, the city of monsters. Once, and still technically, a city of the Empire it is ruled by The Blue, a member of The Three, and a home to all sorts of monsterous humanoids. As an Imperial Governor The Blue has a duty to the Emperor and everyone knows that a dragon, even an evil Chromatic dragons keeps her bargains to the letter, the letter and nothing more. They say that in ages past there was The Five.

Another threat to the Empire is The Lich King. Once he was both Emperor and Archmage. He has returned after centuries to reclaim his dominion.

There is also The Priestess, a new ICON, The High Druid who cares for balance at the expense of all else and The Prince of Shadows who wants... who knows?

Each player is connected to 1 or more icons. The relationship can be personal or distant, positive, negative or complicated. The Icon may appear to you or communicate only through intermediaries. They are the source of gifts, boons and favours but often ask for something in return. Sometimes a relationship with an icon complicates your interactions with those aligned with a different icon.

While 13th Age has many mechanisms for flavouring adventures with the icons it really works best when the campaign is designs around the icons with relationships to the players.