Writing the Extended Challenge creation rules continues to prove itself both extensive and challenging, so I’ve decided to take a brief break and talk about an alternative rule set that has been on my mind while I’ve been working:

Iconic Backgrounds

An alternative to the standard method of apportioning Backgrounds and Icon Dice1)In 13th Age your skills come from your Backgrounds, generally 2 or 3 of them – each with descriptors like “Crowd favourite in the Axis gladiator pits” or “Scout for the Elven Army” detailing what the hero got up to before the story began that allows them to achieve great things – Each hero also gets 3 (or more at higher levels) “Icon Dice” – links they have with the iconic powers of the Dragon Empire. These also generally come down to what’s happened in the character’s past., this system combines the two.

At character creation you have 8 Background points, and can spread them between their Backgrounds; with a maximum of 5 points in any background and a minimum of 2

Every one of your backgrounds must in some way connect to the domain of one of the icons2)it’s pretty hard for it not to; the icons are involved in everything – label which Icon the Background is connected to.

For each separate background you have you get an Icon Die, to be rolled whenever you would normally roll such dice, and used just as freely – that background is how you came by the connection, but once you have a connection with an icon it can be used in a myriad of ways.

As you advance from one tier to the next instead of simply getting an icon die you get 2 new background points – you can put them into a new background (potentially one that describes things your character has been doing regularly during the previous tier) and thereby get a new Icon Die, or you can enhance one of your existing backgrounds, focusing on honing a smaller set of skills.

Feats and talents that grant Icon Dice now also give a relevant Background with a score of +3, while feats and talents that grant Backgrounds similarly come with an Icon Die for whatever icon is most relevant.

To take an example character from my home game, Topaz Sundancer the High Elf whose OUT is “My soul is missing and goes on adventurers without me” would go from:

Icons
[5] Elf Queen 1 (Positive)
[  ] Crusader 1 (Complicated)
[6] Lich King 1 (Negative)
[  ] Prince Of Shadows 1 (Positive)

Backgrounds
Scout for the Elven army (From Tracker) +5
Graduate of the Arcane Institute Of Ullerbower +3
Elven Nobility +3
Stint in the Stables +2

To:

Iconic Backgrounds
Scouted for the Crusader’s Army (From Tracker) +5  – Crusader (Complicated) [  ]
Elven Nobility +3 –  Elf Queen (Positive) [5]
Graduate of the Arcane Institute of Ullerbower +3 – Archmage (Positive) [ ]

Waded through a sea of zombies +2 – Lich King (Negative) [6]
My wandering soul sees many secrets +2 –  Prince Of Shadows (Positive) [  ]

Nothing about the character’s story has changed, just how it’s mechanically represented, focusing more on those parts of the character’s background that give him his links with the icons.

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1. In 13th Age your skills come from your Backgrounds, generally 2 or 3 of them – each with descriptors like “Crowd favourite in the Axis gladiator pits” or “Scout for the Elven Army” detailing what the hero got up to before the story began that allows them to achieve great things – Each hero also gets 3 (or more at higher levels) “Icon Dice” – links they have with the iconic powers of the Dragon Empire. These also generally come down to what’s happened in the character’s past.
2. it’s pretty hard for it not to; the icons are involved in everything

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