I have no gaming group, and I must RP! - Or Game Brainstorming

Sure, I'll jump on this.

Final Odyssey, Summer Country, Tales of Ages in that order, I think.

If we do Final Odyssey, I'd also like to throw Bastion into the ring as further stylistic inspiration.

 

As willing as I am to take stylistic inspiration from Bastion at any time, it looks like everyone likes Tales of Ages. (I'm a little surprised, I figured someone would balk at the multiple characters thing. Then again, the idea with time travel and too many characters may have been a shoe-in with this many Homestucks around.)

I guess the next step is character creation for the Age of Ruin. Here's where my inexperience at running games over the internet rears up. This game is actually using a source book for rules and setting. I have a PDF for it, but I'm not sure how to share it. It's for sale of course if that's what you want, but it seems silly to make all the players buy a book the GM already has. Is there a good way to borrow a 27 MB file? Do you want to just do what I would have done if I was making up the system, talk about setting and characters and I'll mention rules as we go?

 

13th Age has an online SRD. :D

 

Oh, that's convenient. Okay, that will give you enough of the rules for chargen; start at the Character Rules link. Rules tweaks you'll need to know about:

Spoiler: Abilities

Ability scores: First of all, don't roll them. I have never liked random in my chargen. Second, don't even pretend you rolled them - in other words, don't use the 3-18 number whose only purpose is to remind you that Gary Gygax wanted you to roll 3d6 for these numbers. Use the modifier that actually matters to the game. This basically means that most numbers in rules having to do with ability scores are halved. So, you're buying your six ability scores on a point system, spending 14 points as follows:

• An attribute of +4 costs 8 points.
• ... +3... 5 points.
• ...+2...3 points.
• ...+1...2 points.
• ...+0...1 point.
• ...-1...0 points.

Bonuses from your race and class add +1 each to those numbers, not +2. Some legal spreads (before race/class bonuses) in case you don't want to math, from the stupidly min-maxed to the stupidly balanced:

• +4/+3/+0/-1/-1/-1
• +4/+2/+1/+0/-1/-1
• +4/+1/+0/+0/+0/+0
• +3/+3/+2/+0/-1/-1
• +3/+2/+2/+1/+0/-1
• +3/+2/+1/+1/+0/+0
• +2/+2/+1/+1/+1/+1

Spoiler: Races

Races: Humans, half-elves, high elves, wood elves, dark elves, dwarves, forgeborn, half-orcs, gnomes, halflings, and red/blue/green/black dragonkin are known in the Age of Ruin. Anything else is negotiable but will probably count as your One Unique Thing.

I don't like the trope that humans are generic and versatile, it strikes me as closed-minded. Humans get a +1 racial bonus to Con or Int. Their racial power is:
Teamwork: Once per battle after rolling an attack, you may pass that result on to the next ally in initiative order. (If there's a tie, you choose.) Their (first) attack on their turn automatically uses that result without rolling. Your attack still takes its normal effect. Feel free to describe this as a Chrono Trigger-style "dual tech."
Champion Feat: You may pass an attack roll on to the next two allies to act, not just one. (Triple tech!)

If anyone wants to portray a character of any race as a "commoner," someone not typical of their race, or someone who gets by on effort and training rather than natural talent, they can use the rules for vanilla humans: replace their racial power with Quick to Fight, put their racial ability score bonus anywhere they want, and start with an extra feat.

Spoiler: Icons

Icons: First of all, some of the icons in the Age of Ruin are different, both from the canon icons in the book and their transparent expies in the SRD. I'll post a list with descriptions next. Second, I'm changing the mechanics. Chargen is unchanged - spread three points among positive, conflicted, or negative relationships with icons just like the rules say. But in gameplay, we won't use the icon dice. When I invoke your icon connections, it will be built into the plot in a non-random way. When you do it, it will be via special skill rolls that let you try things that someone without that icon relationship couldn't do. (Remember that scene in the LotR books when Sam's alone in an orc fortress and the orcs are running around all "HOLY SHIT ITS AN ELVEN CHAMPION GET IN THE CAR"? Sam had a positive relationship with Galadriel, and his player rolled high.)

 

Icons of the 14th Age, the great historic figures around which the larger story revolves. Relationships with the icons serve a game purpose similar to alignment in other systems. Your characters will be judged and to some extent defined by who they follow, and who their enemies are. Usually, first level characters would be too weak to be very important to the icons. However, heroic icons in the Age of Ruin don't have a lot of resources to draw on, so that might not be as true as it once was.

Spoiler: Orc Lord

The 13th Age ended when the Orc Lord outflanked the Dragon Empire's legions and conquered most of the Empire. Cities were sacked, libraries were burned, and forces long kept in check were carelessly released. The Orc Lord now spends most of his energy fighting off the undead and the dragons that rose up in his wake, and he has little time left for destroying the rest of civilization. Sometimes this feels almost like an unspoken truce, but then the Horde gets hungry and the Orc Lord must raid and despoil again. He still holds about half of the former Empire, but he has to fight for it constantly.

Spoiler: Lich King

At the dawn of history, the Lich King was a mighty wizard who forged the first human civilization. But when even he was unable to defeat death itself, he decided to join the winning team instead. He always thought the Empire belonged to him, and when the Orc Lord's invasion broke the Empire's magical wards and disrupted its holy rituals, the Lich King raised the battlefield dead and attacked the Burning Horde from behind. Now the Lich King controls two of the Empire's great cities (or their haunted ruins, anyway) and much of the countryside. After nightfall, he rules far more than either the Orc Lord or the Pretender will admit.

Spoiler: Four

The oldest and most powerful dragons of the land, the Four hate and despise all the "younger races," which to them includes even the elves. The Green seeks to enslave all the elves he hasn't poisoned, in vengeance for his long captivity. The Black and her assassins carry on a vicious campaign of extermination against surviving drow and dwarven guerillas in the underworld. The Blue, a canny schemer and mighty sorceress, rules the city of Drakkenhall as vicereine for the Lich King, just as she once did for the Emperor. And the Red, the mightiest engine of destruction the world has ever seen, smokes and fumes in the heart of the half-molten mountain that was once the dwarven citadel of Forge.

Spoiler: Pretender

The man who claims to be Emperor stalks the walls of Axis, once the Empire's capital city and now its last fortress. Whatever his birth, there is no question that the Pretender is a mighty general, and despite a decades-long siege the Orc Lord has no hope of taking Axis any time soon. On the other hand, the Pretender doesn't have much left to rule, and he keeps that much under constant martial law. He's supposed to be allied with the Bullroarer but rarely manages to send any actual support. The Pretender swears that he will someday defeat all invaders and restore "his" Empire.

Spoiler: Exile

A half-elven wanderer, leading a loose confederation of rangers and other heroes who patrol around the remnants of civilization. The Exile's rangers serve as protectors, scouts, and monster-hunters - they keep a low profile, but every remaining peaceful surface-dweller outside Axis owes most of their peace to the Exile. Almost none of them know that the Exile is the last surviving heir of the last Emperor. She chooses not to act on this because she doesn't want to turn her allies against each other for her own gain, but the Pretender knows who she is and hates her for it. And of course, the Orc Lord, the Four, and the Lich King would all love to have her head on a spike.

Spoiler: Bullroarer

Perhaps the only safety left in the world is found in a few halfling villages in the hills of the north, protected by a mighty halfling warrior and captain known as the Bullroarer. He is a giant among his people, standing more than five feet tall, and his loyal company of heroes would follow him anywhere. His fortress, the Last Homely House, has withstood assault from the Orc Lord, siege from the Lich King, and treachery from the Green. Nonetheless, the Bullroarer is fighting a losing battle, and he knows it. He's been organizing civilian expeditions into the wilderness, trying to evacuate his refugee-swollen country before it's too late.

Spoiler: Great Gold Wyrm

An elder dragon of a very different kind from the Four. Long ago, the Great Gold Wyrm threw himself bodily into a great crack in the world, literally plugging the mouth of hell. He was successful, and his enemies the demons remain sealed away even now, but the Wyrm is trapped by this sacrifice. He can only watch in helpless dismay as the world he was trying to protect burns behind him. He once had many followers, a Golden Order of paladins and sages that served justice in his name. Now he has few servants in the land - most of the Golden Order died heroically trying to stop things from getting this bad.

Spoiler: Prince of Shadows

This enigmatic trickster is little more than a rumor. Dwarven and drow guerillas speak of him most often, but whenever there are secrets or lies or wealth to steal, someone will say the Prince has had a hand. Most any thief or assassin or spy will claim to be his agent, and some of them might even be telling the truth. No one really knows what the Prince's goals or motives are. The Exile speaks of him with rueful admiration, the Bullroarer doesn't believe he exists, the Orc Lord has offered a chest of gold for his skin, and the Pretender, for some reason, insists that the Prince is already dead.

Spoiler: Archmage, High Druid, Crusader, Fool

Several icons of previous ages are unaccounted for. They (or their successors) may still be around, but there are no reliable reports of them. Some rumors:

• The Archmage lives and serves the Pretender in Axis.
• The High Druid has a sanctuary in the deep wild where the worthy can come and be safe.
• The Crusader was assassinated, which is why the Orc Lord was able to invade.
• One icon in every Age will turn out to be the Fool. When the Fool is revealed, the end of the Age is at hand.
• The High Druid was the Fool of the 13th Age and died with it.

 

Twp

Pixie (gnome, but pixie sounds better) Paladin


Str 4
Dex 3
Con 2
Wis 0
Int -1
Cha 1

HP 30 AC 20 (21 with shield) +2 vs. opportunity attacks PD 14 MD 13
Initiative +4 Recoveries 8 Recovery die 1d10+2

Powers and shit:
Confounding
Minor Illusions
Smite Evil
Bastion
Implacable
Divine Domain: War

Spoiler: details

Confounding (Racial Power)
Once per battle, when you roll a natural 16+ with an attack, you can also daze the target until the end of your next turn.

Minor Illusions
As a standard action, at-will, you can create a strong smell or a sound nearby. Nearby creatures that fail a normal save notice the smell or sound. Creatures that make the save may notice it but recognize it as not exactly real.

Smite Evil
You can use this talent once per battle, plus an additional number of times per day equal to your Charisma modifier.

As a free action before you make a paladin melee attack roll, you can declare that you're using a Smite Evil attack. Add +1d12 to the damage roll AND deal half damage with the attack if it misses

Bastion
You gain +1 AC.

In addition, once per battle when a nearby ally is hit by an attack, you can choose to lose hit points equal to half of that damage, and have your ally take only half of the damage instead. The damage you lose can come from temporary hit points, but isn't affected by damage resistance and other tricks to avoid the damage.

Implacable
You can roll saves at the start of your turn instead of at the end of your turn. A successful save against ongoing damage, for example, means that you will not take the ongoing damage that turn.

Domain: War/Leadership
Once per turn when you make a melee attack against an enemy, hit or miss, your allies gain a +1 attack bonus against that enemy until the start of your next turn.

Invocation of War/Leadership: Increase the escalation die by 1. (quick action)​

Feat:
Reach Tricks

Equipment:
Iridescent Platemail
Iridescent Shield with device of Bullroarer
Longspear (2 handed martial, 1d10)
Dagger (concealed) (1 handed simple, 1d4)
Cavalry Saber (1 handed martial, 1d8)
Longbow (martial bow, 1d8)
Arrows
Dragonfly riding tack
rations (5 days)
rope
waterskin
pack
flint & tinder
rain cloak
crowbar
hand drill
hammer-axe (not suitable for combat)
trench shovel (2 handed simple, 1d6. also, shovel)
pitons
bronze mirror (mostly good for signalling)
Pixie-sized tent, painted for camouflage. can be suspended in trees
Hooded lantern (shows light in the device of Bullroarer, can be masked without extinguishing light) and oil

I think those are all reasonable things to have given backgrounds (sapper and refugee guide in particular). Lemme know if there's any problems.
I assume I'm not starting with the full 25 gp, because this is kinda the post-apocalypse?

Backgrounds (in chronological order):
Sole survivor 2
Aimless wanderer 1
Sapper 2
Refugee guide 2
Dragonfly-knight 1


Unique: has a war-dragonfly mount, Yx. (large enough to carry Twp and all her junk. could carry a hobbit in lighter armor or with less heavy metal tools, but not much more)

Icons:
Bullroarer: positive relationship 2
Twp is a sworn knight of the Last Homely House, and dedicated to protecting it and the refugees it holds for as long as Bullroarer stands.

Orc Lord: conflicted relationship 1
Twp has no great love of the Orc Lord himself, but she respects the warriors of his Horde, and though her allegiance to Bullroarer now makes them her enemies, she once fought alongside them against the fell armies of the Lich King.
Twp also believes the Orc Lord is the world's only real hope against the Lich King and the Four.

 

vowels are for squares

 

Support your tank!

PD and MD should be 14 (10+Dex+Level) and 13 (12+Wis+Level). (Dex is the middle of Str/Dex/Con for you, and Wis is the middle of Wis/Int/Cha.)
By the standards of the time, Twp is armed to the teeth. With all that shiny gear and a unique mount, she'll be the best-equipped fighter on most battlefields. I'm glad you took that relationship with the Bullroarer, because otherwise we would have to explain why Twp wasn't a knight of renown, which would be tough.
By the way, despite what D&D would have us believe, "plate" and "mail" are two different things in armor. Did you mean articulated plate, like the classic knight's armor? Or a suit with plate on the vitals and chain mail on the joints? In this system the difference is cosmetic, but I'd like to know what mental image to use.
I think technically I shouldn't be allowing a flying mount as your Unique Thing since that ought to allow all sorts of nifty tactical benefits. However, most of those don't suit your build anyway - Twp doesn't want to be flying out of range, she wants to be charging into the fray and tanking hits. Use Yx more for cool descriptions and less for cheap combat tricks and we'll be fine. Oh, but when you see a flying enemy, go nuts - that means I've built the fight with a flying paladin in mind, so it won't be an unfair advantage.
If you take the Reach Tricks feat, your once-per-battle trick could be a lance charge where you have your spear in one hand and still get your shield AC that round.
Your Smite Evil will work on undead, chromatic dragons, or any servant of the Lich King or the Four. Probably demons, too, but in this Age that's unlikely to come up. Given Twp's feelings about the Horde (which are not popular around the barracks, btw, though the Bullroarer himself would understand) she won't be able to Smite orcs.
Is it Dame Twp, or shall we set the convention that female knights are still Sir?
The Bullroarer's device is a silver mace on a green field.

There's one last chargen reference post upcoming from me, for the characterization side of things.

 

Questions you'll need to answer for your character, in addition to filling in all their stats and powers. Some players may prefer to do this first and figure out the stats afterward. You can answer them in a list like this, or write a few paragraphs that touch on all these points.

Who are you?
Describe your appearance, personality, occupation, and style.

Where are you from?
Give us some backstory.

What is your Unique Thing and where does it come from?
This is the thing that's supposed to make you special, so explain it for us.

How are you connected to the past?
Are you from an old family? A long-lasting religious sect or magical tradition? Are you connected to an ancient icon, or an icon from an earlier Age? Or are you orphaned from your history? Something new to the 14th Age?

 

14th Age: Taiga Whiteclaw
Half-Elf Witch: Meet your Healer
Str 0 Dex +1 Con 0 Wis +1 Int +3(+1 Ability) Cha +2(+1 Racial "I am the prettiest motherfucker in this bar" --Past Campaign)
HP 18 AC: 12 PD: 12 MD: 15
Init: +2 Recovery: 1d6, 8/day
Melee: 1d4/1d6+0
Ranged: 1d6+2

Talents:

Familiar: Flight, Scout
Hex Mastery: Evil Eye, Purge
Blood Magic​

Racial:

Quick to Fight​

Feats:

Hex Mastery
Cursebolt​

Powers:
Magic: 1 hex, 4 1st level spells/day, cantrips

Familiar: white raven, Lusus.
Icons:

• High Druid +2 Ambiguous
• The Four -1 Villainous

Background:
Seer +2
Healer +2
Traveler/Survivalist +2
Trickster +1
Scout +1

Weapons: Dagger (S) 1d4, Shortbow (S) 1d6

 

Let's say beetle-shell plate with mail at the joints.
I assume situational creative shenanigans with Yx are kosher? Because they're not a reliable tactical bonus?

Spoiler: stylistic inspiration, courtesy fire emblem

Dame Twp is pretty tiny, shoulder-height or less on most hobbits. She relies mostly on speed and precision to squeeze her full damage out of weapons small enough for her to use.

Twp grew up in a pixie farming village somewhere to the North of the Last Homely House, but it was sacked when she was very young. As far as she knows, she was the only survivor, and was forced to learn how to fend for herself in the dangerous forests of the 14th age. She grew up rootless, not really caring if she lived or died, and took to wandering the ruins of the Empire. As she reached adulthood, she fell in with the Horde near a contested area between them and the forces of the Lich King. She received basic military training there, and joined up with sappers undermining the Lich King's fortifications and fighting ghouls and wights in tunnels underneath the battlefield. Eventually, she drifted away from the Horde and returned to wandering rather than be redeployed.

Her wanderings brought her back to the woodlands of her youth, where she encountered a group of bedraggled refugees struggling to survive. She used her knowledge of the woods to take them safely to the Last Homely House, then took up work there as a guide for refugees. With a stable allegiance and more of a reason to live, and numerous experiences as a guide of having to abandon captured, injured and lost refugees to have a hope of saving the others, her thoughts turned to improving her ability to protect and fight for refugees and the Last Homely House.

Origin of Yx pending.

 

Is that last spot still open? I've always wanted to try the whole casual home game thing.

Depending on timezones, of course. I'm on Greenwich Mean Time, which routinely fucks me out of scheduled in tenet things. But yeah, just expressing my interest.

 

Okay poking around has made me fairly happy with the Wizard class. Can I just... call her a witch? Her style/personality is a mishmash of various witch/gypsy/voodoo stereotypes she deliberately plays up for a combination of laughs and safety because Don't Fuck With The Witch, She'll Hex You No really she turned my cousin into a newt. A NEWT? He got better...

Spoiler: Visual

Only, y'know, not fetish-y. Skirts actually cover her legs, but she'll hike them up to fight/run. Tits are adequately restrained, etc.
Who are you?

• Appearance: Tall for a half elf, green eyes. Hair kept in a long braid over her shoulder to her hip, with beads, faded ribbon and bits of seaglass woven in. It's going prematurely white (Due to a personal headcanon that magic use bleaches hair, Mercedes Lackey has ruined me forever). Dusky/dark brown skin tone. The half-elven equivalent of 28-32 if ages factor in.
• Personality: Sarcastic, flirtatious and vengeful. She enjoys helping people, but in convoluted ways that provide maximum amusement for her. Think Tia Dalma from PotC. She would absolutely give someone a jar of dirt. Will often pass off common sense as ~mystical advice from beyond~ and perfectly ordinary teas as ~magic potions~ because sometimes people just need to believe something works (This is entirely well meaning, she's not out to rip people off usually but sometimes the problem doesn't actually need magic.) Dotes on Lusus, tends to talk to him more sweetly than most people. Lusus may actually be a transformed person, no one's sure. Neither Lusus nor Taiga care to explain.

Familiar's Personality: Mischievous and clever. Enjoys pranks like undoing hair ties and dropping snails in drinks but very easily bribed with shiny things or food.​

• Occupation: Travelling healer, fortune-teller and herbalist.
• Style: Eccentric Scary Bag-Lady. Lots of layers, lots of colors. Mostly blue/green/purple. Lots of piercings and jewelry, a hodgepodge of painted glass, feathers, valuable spell components, real gems/silver, woven grass and probably more animal bones/teeth than one person really needs to have on their body no seriously do you really need that many tiny skulls. But somehow she doesn't jingle overmuch when she walks. (Spoilers, she has silencing charms mixed into the mess). Beneath the ridiculous getup is a pair of incredibly sensible, comfortable knee-high walking boots. Carries a staff made out of an upside-down aspen sapling topped with a big quartz crystal in the roots but rarely uses it for combat, it's mostly a perch for Lusus. She also wears thick leather wrist guards and a leather shoulder pad for bird perches.

Where are you from?
Originally from a coastal swamp/bayou. Her village had a religious upheaval, declared her and her kind anathema and killed or drove them out. She's been wandering for about half her life. No strong ties to any faction, but despises any who follow the Four, Green in particular. The Elf part is Wood Elf, prefers "wild" elf to "green" elf for obvious reasons.

What is your Unique Thing and where does it come from?
Pre/Postcognition. Multiple forms/strengths take up spell slot for use, accuracy of prediction based on d20 roll.
Ex: "Should we go in the cave?"
Nat20

Cantrip: Well, my runestones just spelled out F-U-C-K-N-O, sooooo...
Spell: Given that a toad just hopped up out of nowhere and ate the poppet that was Twp, I'm going say it's a bad idea
Ritual: I had a vision. There's going to be a massive, loud rockfall, you get crushed, she has a breakdown because you get crushed and she's claustrophobic, and then we all get drowned in a wave of massive fucking spiders no we are not going in the cave.​

Nat1

Cantrip: Honestly I'm 75% sure that symbol combination means "fortuitous potato harvest" so... Maybe yes?
Spell: The only thing I got out of that toad's entrails was a headache and frog poop under my nails, I got nothin'
Ritual: I had a vision and it knocked me unconscious for two days sorry guys, also, who are you?
​

Also prone to plot-relevant visions at GM discretion. All of this, particularly past knowledge comes through her connection with Lusus, who is in fact a transformed person. Sorta.

How are you connected to the past?
Descendant of a line of powerful magic workers devastated by the Green dragon. Her style of magic has largely been lost to the world, a method of wizardry drawn less from spellbooks and more from nature/connections with her familiar. She didn't choose him, he chose her, and taught her almost everything she knows.

 

@Aviari: You can absolutely play a wizard and call her a witch, that's no problem. If you want a primary healer without the tanky build and religious overtones of the cleric, we can do that too. The balance in this system is tight enough that making up classes actually wouldn't be that hard, I'd just need flavor and an overview of what kind of capabilities you were going for.

The precognition is fine - in a game about time travel it's actually a great fit. Major predictions will be plot points, and you won't get to pick when they come up. Anything you can control will be vague and/or limited and, if it has an immediate practical benefit, will probably be handled as a custom spell that you'll have to use a spell slot on. Or, if you want to make it something she doesn't believe in herself, that's fine too if we can figure out how to write/plot that.

The bayou you're looking for is called the Fangs. It's a couple hundred miles west of the Last Homely House, and it's full of displaced sea monsters who got kicked out of the Inland Sea when it was pacified ages ago. It was within the Empire nonetheless and so could easily have had human villages for a long time.

Just so you know, the Green had been imprisoned for ages until he got released in the Age of Ruin. That means the magical tradition Taiga comes from would not have been destroyed yet in the other ages we'll be playing in. I like the contrast that provides.

And about the spellcasting components - actually, this system doesn't even have rules for material components. So not only do you not have to track them, they only even exist if you think that would add to the flavor of your magic. (It probably would, especially for ritual magic.)

Actually, folks, the detailed equipment lists in general aren't so much of a thing. Everyone definitely mention basic arms, armor, and spellcasting tools (wands, staves, books, holy symbols, musical instruments, whatever) and anything else you'd use all the time or that's part of your basic style and image. Other than that, I'll just assume you have reasonable tools and supplies matching your backgrounds. If it makes you feel better to decide beforehand what that is, fine. Otherwise, if I'm ever not sure if you'd have a particular thing, I'll just call for a skill check to see if you managed to bring it along. But remember, this is the end of the world, so it's not like there's well-stocked Adventure Supply Stores everywhere. There's enough nice things still around and/or getting made that it's reasonable for exceptional heroes like you to have some, but a lot of your gear is likely to be old, homemade, scavenged, refurbished, or improvised out of something else. And don't worry about cash, you won't have much chance to spend it.

@Wiwaxia: Situational creative shenanigans with just about anything are kosher. That's where interesting skill checks come from. If the shenanigans are very creative you might even get a +2 circumstance bonus. I was talking more about things like "I fly up where none of the enemies can reach me and fire arrows down at them."

@Socratease: The last spot is open, it's yours if you want it, but I'm not sure what you mean by "casual"? This isn't the diceless loosely-moderated no-fixed-party group storytelling thing that I'm used to in forum roleplaying. It's going to be more like a standard tabletop RPG where we telecommute to the sessions, using a browser-based utility called Roll20. And as for times, I haven't even raised the question yet, I don't know what time zones anyone is in. I'm in the eastern US, GMT-5, but because of my work I have a schedule like I live on the other coast, GMT-8.

 

The way I had my PF Witch built out was "versatility". All her cantrips and spells were centered on healing, cantrips were at will and while she only had say three known/stored/whatever at a time, she could use those three infinitely. Spells were defensive, centered around things like "cure light/med/etc wounds" "remove poison" etc. She also had a couple whammies per day in the form of Hexes, which were specialized or superpowered spells, which I chose to make all offensive. I'd imagine this would translate into Ritual spells? I was thinking if nothing else I could swap the spell list in from PF.

Part of why I'm holding off of a religious class like clerics is I'm waffling between my paladin and my sorcerer for the Past Age. The paladin is something of a zealot.

Edit: Fixed my stats

 

Ugh, that site doesn't have any flavor text on races that I see...

 

@KarrinBlue Any race in particular that you want? I have a PDF and can easily just C&P what's in the book over here.

 

Umm, the elf varieties, the forgeborn, and the dragons, please?

 

It might take me a little time to gather everything, since setting fluff for 13th Age appears to be kinda nebulous and spread out throughout the book. :\

Forgeborn/Dwarf-Forged
Not too much in the fluff about Forge-born, save that they're "living constructs" (Golems and/or Fantasy Robots, I guess?). It essentially says that it's really up to the GM as to exactly how they're handled, since they're considered an optional race for the system. However, there is an implication that they were originally created as a servitor race for the Dwarves, and that the majority of them would be underground with them, with only a few free Forgeborn living on the Surface.

No art or actual images provided on the immediate page, so...

 

@KarrinBlue: Forgeborn were an artificial race recently created by the dwarves - steampunk androids may be a better description than fantasy robots. They were created for work in conditions of high temperature, bad ventilation, or just jobs that needed strength over a long period of time. They used to only be found in Forge and other major dwarven settlements underground and there were never many of them, but when Forge got wrecked by the Red a disproportionate number of them managed to escape. They stood up to heat and smoke better than dwarves, and their first response was often to grab helpless dwarves and get them out of danger. With the society they were built for destroyed, most surviving Forgeborn are free agents now. Don't expect to see them in earlier Ages.

@Aviari:

Spoiler: Witch

Witch
Ability bonus: +1 to Int or Cha, but not the same stat you increased with the racial bonus.
HP: (6 + Con) x 3, multiplier increases with level
Recoveries: 8/day, 1d6+Con HP.
AC: 10 + (middle of Dex/Con/Wis) + Level. Wearing heavy armor or a shield adds 1 AC but imposes -2 to all attacks including spells.
PD: 11 + (middle of Str/Dex/Con) + Level
MD: 11+ (middle of Int/Wis/Cha) + Level
Initiative: +Dex+Level

Melee weapons: (1 hand / 2 hand) Roll d20+Str+Level to hit. Attack penalties for two-handed weapons apply to spells also while the weapon is held.
Small: 1d4/1d6 (dagger/staff, etc.)
Simple: 1d6/1d8, -2 attack (short sword/spear, etc.)
Martial: 1d8/1d10, -5 attack (long sword/halberd, etc.)
Ranged weapons: (thrown/crossbow/bow) Roll d20+Dex+Level to hit. Attack penalties for bows and crossbows apply to spells also while the weapon is held.
Small: 1d4 (knife/hand crossbow/NA)
Simple: 1d6, (-2/-1/-2) attack (javelin/light crossbow/shortbow)
Martial: 1d8, (-5/-4/-5) attack (NA/heavy crossbow/longbow)

Magic: At level 1: 1 hex, 4 1st level spells/day, cantrips
Start with one Adventurer-tier feat, like everyone else.

Class Features:
Cantrips: Like wizards, witches have cantrips, minor handy magical effects. They don’t need to pick cantrips in advance, they can choose them on the fly. Witches can use a cantrip (Int) times per battle as a normal action.

• Fortune: The target adds or subtracts the witch’s Int from their next save. If a battle starts or ends before the bonus is used, it is lost.
  
• Wreck: An ordinary, stationary object is ruined. If the object is particularly durable or complex, or needs to be ruined in a particular way (such as a door that needs to be broken open rather than sealed shut), the witch will need to pass a skill check using Int.
• Witchfire: Creates a small flame that can be held for light or placed on an easily-flammable object to set it on fire. Flames started by witchfire produce a distinctive green-black smoke.
• Prestidigitation: Produces small magic tricks and very simple illusions.

Ritual Magic: Witches can cast their spells and hexes as rituals. Rituals can be used to extend the logic of spells the witch already knows into specialized or rarely-needed non-combat effects. For example, a ritual based on a cure spell might cure a disease or a gradual poison instead of a wound.
Hexes: The witch’s specialty is subtle, ongoing magical effects – most famously, those that impede or harm enemies. Witches know one hex per level and cannot switch them out as they can spells. Typically, each hex a witch knows can be used once per battle as a normal action. A witch can only have one hex active at a time. Using a hex does not draw opportunity attacks.

Class Talents:
Choose three of the following.
Witch’s Familiar: A small companion animal. Works the same as for wizards.

Hex Mastery: You know one additional hex. Once per battle, you can use a hex as a quick action instead of a normal action.

• Adventurer Feat: A witch can have two hexes active at a time.

Practical Magic: The witch can devote a spell slot to a Utility Spell as though they were a wizard. Witches do not get Hold Portal as a utility spell (the Wreck cantrip is easier anyway) they get Speak With Animal.

• Adventurer Feat: One spell slot devoted to Utility Spells allows the witch to cast two such spells.

Eclectic Lore: Choose a spell from the Sorcerer or Cleric spell lists. You may use that spell as though it were your own, respecting normal rules for level. Witches cannot gather power for sorcerer spells, and their cleric spells are automatically cast for broad effect.

• Adventurer Feat: Attack and damage rolls for your Eclectic Lore spell use Int instead of Wis or Cha.

Blood Magic: Once per day, when casting a spell, the witch can spend her own HP to increase the damage dealt on a hit, to increase HP restored by a healing spell, or to increase the max HP of targets that can be affected by the spell at a 1:2 ratio.

• Adventurer Feat: When you use Blood Magic, it works as though you’d spent Con+Level more HP than you actually did.

1st Level Spells
Weal
Ranged spell, At-Will
You or a nearby ally may heal with a recovery. Add the escalation die to the HP regained.

Cure Wounds
Ranged Spell, Daily, Quick action to cast
You or a nearby ally can heal using a free recovery.

Cursebolt
Ranged spell, At-Will
Roll an attack +Int+Level vs. PD against a nearby enemy. On a hit, deal 1d6+Int psychic damage. On a miss, psychic damage equal to your level.

• Adventurer Feat: Can target faraway enemies.

Horrifying Visage
Close Quarters Spell, Recharge 16+ after battle
Roll an attack +Int+Cha+Level against the MD of a nearby living, thinking target with no more than 55 HP. On a miss, no effect. On a hit, they take fear (-4 to attacks and can’t use the escalation die) until your next turn, and will only attack if they can’t disengage and flee. On a hit by 4 or more, same effect but save ends. On a hit by 8 or more, they flee even if it means drawing an opportunity attack. On a hit by 12 or more or a natural 20, the effect lasts for the whole battle.

Chill Touch
Close Quarters Spell, At-Will
Roll an attack +Int+Level vs. PD at up to two enemies engaged with you. If you hit, 1d4+Int cold damage. If you miss, cold damage equal to your level.

• Adventurer Feat: On a hit, that target pops free from you.

Charm Person
Ranged Spell, Daily
Roll an attack +Int+Level vs. MD at a nearby creature with 40 hp or fewer. On a hit, the target believes you are their friend until you prove otherwise (though attacking their former allies is fine.) This spell cannot be cast during combat. If you miss by 4 or more, or roll a natural 1, the target and its allies know what you tried to do and are usually angry about it.

Woe
Ranged Spell, Daily
Roll an attack +Int+Level vs. PD at a nearby enemy. On a hit, they take 3d6+Int psychic damage and are dazed (-4 to attack), save ends. On a miss, the target is dazed until the end of your next turn.

1st Level Hexes
Evil Eye
Attack +Int+Level vs. MD on one target. On a hit, the target gets -2 to attack and damage rolls, save ends. (A mob of mooks counts as one target.)

Purge
You and all allies get one extra save vs. a save ends effect. They can use it immediately if they need it now, or they can save it and use it before their turn if they’re inflicted with such an effect later.

Grease
You and all allies choose one: pop free from one enemy immediately and move away, or get +2 to disengage checks for the rest of the battle.

@Carcosa: That copy-pasting you offered would be a big help, if you wouldn't mind. I'll add on notes about how each race is doing in the Age of Ruin.