Nightfall – Gothic horror in the 13th Age RPG
Nightfall, a gothic horror supplement for the 13th Age RPG from Fun Tyrant by Darren Pearce is on Kickstarter now, where you can check it out.13th Age, Pelgrane Press’ upcoming answer to the modern fantasy RPG (read: 4e Dungeons and Dragons and Pathfinder), has generated a lot of buzz pending its release, including a successful expansion already funded by Pelgrane Press. However, Fun Tyrant and designer Darren Pearce are trying to expand 13th Age to include gothic horror thanks to Nightfall. Nightfall is set to include three new character races, three new classes, new play options, GM advice for running a horror campaign, and appropriately horrible monsters to throw at the players “ranging from the least poltergeist to the greatest demon”, according to the Kickstarter page. Beyond that, it sounds like Nightfall will devote a lot of time to the world that Fun Tyrant has developed: six chapters of the book will detail the world of Solenset, with each chapter focusing on a separate realm. For those looking to get into 13th Age once it is released, I’m definitely intrigued by Nightfall and hope we’ll see some more information about the kinds of options it offers and what the world looks like. Those interested can find more information about the Nightfall supplement for the 13th Age RPG can check out the Kickstarter page.
So, now that you’re done checking out Nightfall what are your thoughts? Do you like the idea of fantasy Gothic horror? What would like to see in this kind of setting? I’ll be honest, besides some Ravenloft back in the day (and some Vampire, but it was never horror oriented), my horror RPG experience is pretty weak. I’d love to hear your thoughts and what you think it’s important to see from Nightfall down in the comments.
Additional Related Posts
I am awaiting my 13th Age books (I backed 13 True Ways at a level to get both the corebook and the expansion), but have yet to actually get to the table and play. I started with AD&D in the 70s, and that was always heroic role playing. I came to horror with Call of Cthulhu, and have played and run that a lot. For me, the role playing experience has to provide a lot of anxiety, concern for your characters, the characters in the party and people (NPCs) and places of importance to the characters. Horror often has to have an aspect of powerlessness. Big scary monsters are big and scary sure, but if the characters can face the monster Beowulf like and kick it’s ass, well, we are not that horrified. The cost of fighting generally has to be more than just fear of death or injury. There has to be a deeper cost, like Sanity in Call of Cthulhu or Humanity in Vampire the Masquerade, and usually, there also have to be hard bargains to achieve victory or safety. You can save the world, but maybe only at the cost of your sanity, bodily health, or some demonic pact that ensures a lesser evil outcome. A lot of this can be established narratively, but there is some punch to having game mechanics that also revolve around the costs of horror.
I am sold on 13th Age, but it is hard to say wether Nightfall is worth jumping into already, given that I don’t even have the complete core book yet. Also, the Nightfall kickstarter feels much more shoestring than otheres I have participated in. The pitch is lacking in detail (such that “what classes and races are included?” had to be answered in the comment section). They have a great piece of art on the page, but I think they have lost an opportunity by not introducing more through a short video. Even relatively modest projects tend to have videos to introduce key information and transmit the excitement and dedication of the creators.
Nightfall so far lacks that. This is not to say they won’t succeed in their modest fundrasing goals. Quite the contrary, I think they will make it. However, nothing they have put up tells me why their project is a perfect fit for 13th Age (e.g. are they going to have new Icons; how will they work and define their world?) and what is so special about the project that it is worth backing even before 13th Age officially hits shelves.
Finally, despite them launching it as part of 13th Age, the idea that this may be more of a “generic” product that can convert (upon meeting stretch goals) to Pathfinder, FATE, OSRIC, actually weakens it a bit for me, because it feels less like it is focusing on what elements make 13th Age a terrific game and more like they are just trying to ride 13th Age’s coat tails to get published. That is a fine marketing strategy, but makes me hesitent to buy into them creatively.
Thanks for your blog post. It gave me a chance to sort out some thoughts.
Cheers.