As a long-time fan of the awesome products from Kobold Press, I'm excited to announce that we're ready to begin work on the next issue of Escalation, focused on the Midgard campaign setting. Not familiar with Midgard? Then check out this short primer.The Midgard Bestiary: 13th Age Edition offers dozens of Midgard creatures and NPCs, thirteen icons, and nine PC races. Combined with the Midgard Worldbook, the bestiary provides the basis for entire Midgard campaigns using 13th Age. Yet, available 13th Age content only scratches the surface of Midgard. We need the help of the community to flesh out Midgard for 13th Age gaming groups.
Here are some ideas for articles:
- There are many Midgard races that aren't detailed in the Midgard Bestiary. A selection includes alseid, bearfolk, shadow fey, trollkin, derro, dhampir, jinnborn, lamia, ratfolk, sahuagin, lizardfolk, hiveless, werelions, and winterfolk halflings.
- The icons presented in the Midgard Bestiary were drawn from a time period about a decade in the Midgard metaplot's past. What icons are present, now?
- Midgard features several continents. Many powerful NPCs—potential icons—are limited in scope. What advice can you offer GMs to select the right icons for their adventures and campaigns? What might the icons in a Zobeck- or Margreve-focused campaign look like? How would they differ from a campaign where PCs are from all over Midgard?
- Deities are more present and important in Midgard than they are in 13th Age's Dragon Empire. This leads to several cleric domains that haven't been explored in 13th Age. These include apocalypse, beer (yes, beer!), bird, cat, clockwork, dragon, glyphs, hunger, hunting, insect, labyrinth, mountain, ocean, prophecy, speed, travel, and void domains.
- Ley lines are an important aspect of arcane magic in Midgard. How can they be represented mechanically in 13th Age?
- The Status attribute offers mechanical benefits and drawbacks in Midgard. The system wouldn't be hard to port to 13th Age, but how can it be syncretized with icon relationships?
- Some archetypes might work well as talents. For example, Midgard features ghost knight fighters, vampire slayer rangers, and clockwork wizards.
- Ring magic, rune magic, blood magic, and void magic offer new spells and even approaches to tapping into the arcane. How can these be represented in 13th Age?
- The Tome of Beasts and Creature Codex are filled with hundreds of new Midgard monsters. What 13th Age campaign wouldn't be richer with more foes?
For further ideas, the Midgard Swords & Wizardry Guidebook could serve as a good template for bringing Midgard to 13th Age.
Take a look at the link at the top right corner of the page for submission guidelines and contact information. Please spread the word and help us create an issue that will help the World Tree grow!
