Greetings from the Holy Ones
14 days ago
– Sat, Dec 07, 2024 at 03:14:04 PM
Early December, and Jen has finished the first and second draft layouts of the two smallest Gamemaster’s Guide chapters. Layout of the very large Monsters chapter starts Monday.
The GMG Treasure chapter will be the next to go into layout, but we’re keeping the Running the Game chapter from the GMG open while we process feedback on the classes. I’ve got a lot more of the crucial classes feedback to read but there are already clear themes that Jonathan and I have started addressing.
Art is very far along, with 157 of approximately 166 illustrations finished and the last few being handled extra-special for reasons ranging from our all-the-demons artist wanting to give the balor special attention to the artist who drafted his dwarf fighter player character as the central hero in a combat scene now working on including the rest of his gaming group’s heroes!
Speaking of art that deserves special attention, the image crowning this update is an example of our cover artists, Aaron McConnell and Lee Moyer, having fun with my art suggestions. Aaron provided all the illustrations for the Kin chapter. I told him that I was tired of goody-two-shoes blond holy ones/(aasimar) and asked for a sharp-featured holy one harlequin, holding her mask, with a halo that spun red through orange.
Aaron’s pencils showed what he thought of me telling him that the Orc Lord was dead and that every campaign could decide for itself what had happened to him.
In Aaron’s world, she happened to him, and Lee’s paints summoned the harlequinade. I’m not sure who she is, but she may be the only holy one in the world with a stack of three haloes.
Yours in the harlequinade,
Rob
The Gnome Barbarian Finishes Off October
about 2 months ago
– Thu, Oct 31, 2024 at 05:19:44 PM
Today’s art is literally today’s art! Aaron McConnell is handling the illustrations for the Kin chapter and Lee just finished painting Aaron’s black and white pencils a couple hours ago.
Yes, it’s a gnome barbarian. I’ve had some fun treating the kin illustrations as a chance to play against type instead of always sticking to what’s expected.
There’s also backstory from when I was working on 4th Edition D&D. Our friend Echo, who my wife Lisa used to work with in the environmental education world, was so angry at 4E for not including the gnome as one of the playable characters in the 4E PH that she could barely speak to me.
Fast forward about what, 17 or 18 years, and Echo’s rage on behalf of her beloved gnome barbarian player character has inspired this illo. It’s not Echo’s character, I didn’t get in touch to get that art order, but it’s certainly someone who looks like they’re cutting with the same battleaxe!
Progress Report: I’m optimistic about turning the Gamemaster’s Guide over to layout in the middle of November. I’m mostly finished reading the feedback on the GMG. Now it’s a matter of deciding when and how to respond to feedback.
Interview report: Also just out this week, you can find a written interview about 13th Age 2E with Monica Valentinelli and Flames Rising here. For you backers who already know 13th Age, the first question about design philosophy is the most likely section to cover something new. If you backed the Kickstarter but don’t know 13th Age all that well yet, the rest of the interview covers details of the setting, combat, and new rules.
yours in the whirl, Rob
Discord AMA with Rob Heinsoo Sat 12th
2 months ago
– Fri, Oct 11, 2024 at 07:25:27 AM
Hey gang,
Just a quick one to let you know that Rob Heinsoo will be doing an Ask Me Anything-style chat on the 13th Age Discord this coming Saturday, October 12th at 1PM Pacific time. Here's the link:
https://discord.com/invite/2PcMUd66?event=1294192051075678221
Thanks to Martin K for letting us extend the invite beyond the confines of his Discord. Looking forward to seeing you there!
~Cat
Early October Update: Art & the Gamemaster's Guide
3 months ago
– Thu, Oct 03, 2024 at 07:02:48 PM
13th Age 2E Owlbear by Dagmara Matuszak
When I made our last update, in August, I was busy hiring artists. It went well! The artists have been creating great things and I've had a lot of fun putting small twists on familiar subjects.
Why shouldn't an owlbear spin its head around like an owl? Why shouldn't a tiefling sorcerer be tiger-marked instead of just boring ol' red?
Tiefling Sorcerer by Dagmara Matuszak
Our editor, Trisha DeFoggi, has made her first pass through the Gamemaster's Guide and I'm sorting through playtest feedback on that book before handing it back to Trisha for her final pass. If you have feedback on the GMG, email it to [email protected] with the words GMG Feedback in the subject line. Don't dally, I doubt I'll be doing as much with GMG feedback that comes in after October 15th.
The feedback has been tremendously helpful so far, especially at pointing out where we need to clarify rules and simplify explanations.
I'll be in touch in a couple weeks with more!
--Rob Heinsoo
BackerKit is launching soon!
4 months ago
– Fri, Aug 30, 2024 at 01:28:26 PM
We've had a lot of fun on social media with the 13th Days of 13th Age, and now that that's done, it's time to close late pledges on the Kickstarter, and launch the 13th Age Second Edition BackerKit!
Soon, you’ll receive an email from us with a link to your BackerKit survey. You don't need to create a BackerKit account to fill it out - just click on the link in the survey invite email. Answer the questions about your reward preferences, provide shipping information, and purchase add-on items if you like.
After you respond to your survey, you can go back later and change your responses at any time before we close the surveys and get our final counts.
Due to the volatility of shipping prices globally right now, shipping fees for this project will be calculated at a later date once we have the best estimates for everyone. We plan to enter and charge you for shipping a month or two before we start shipping your rewards, when we have a better idea what shipping will cost. We'll let you know when shipping costs are finalised and before we charge your cards in your BackerKit survey.
If you need to review your information or pledge status, you can return to your survey by clicking the link in your survey email or requesting your survey link under "Lost your survey?" on our BackerKit project page at https://13th-age-2e.backerkit.com/, which will go live when the surveys go out.
Till next time,
~Cat
