13th Age Options: The Rogue

I've always really liked Rogues, and so it's a bit odd that it's one of the 13th Age classes I have the least experience with.  I've had three different players play one for just one (or a few) session(s) each, and two of them were dissatisfied.  Granted one of those players had a string of terrible dice luck for the few session he played (he went through multiple combats without hitting a single time), but that only highlighted one of the issues with the Rogue.  The other big three popular damage-dealing classes at my table who target AC (which is higher than PD/MD commonly targeted by spellcasters) all have ways to increase accuracy: the Barbarian rolls 2d20s while raging, the Ranger typically has either double attack and/or an animal companion, and the (shifter) Druid re-rolls the first missed beast form attack (and can also have an animal companion).  I'm not sure if I'd necessarily call the Monk a raw damage class, but even if you threw him in there Flurry grants more attacks and some of the Forms offer multi-attacks (or attacks at increased accuracy).  The Rogue, which was probably the most accurate of the weapon classes in 4E, depends on a single d20 roll.  The meager tricks able to ameliorate this either require a staggered enemy (Murderous with a feat, or Deadly Thrust), momentum (Sure Cut) which requires you to have hit already in the first place, or being engaged with more than one enemy (Slick Feint).  So a power that allows re-rolls was a priority for me to design.  

The even bigger glaring hole in the class as-written is more thematic than mechanical - the popular "sniper Rogue" is unsupported.  If the 13th Age designers set out to make a dashing melee swashbuckler they succeeded, but a lot of players expect Rogues to be pretty good at range as well, or at least have the option to go that route.  Thus the majority of this article supports that build.  

Finally, I thought a feat to enhance Swashbuckle was appropriate.  Despite being extremely cool, my players and I consider it the weakest of the improvisational talents since it not only requires momentum, but requires you to spend it.  We've found momentum to be extremely valuable in play, and sometimes tough to gain.  The costs associated with Vance's Polysyllabic Verbalizations, Tracker, Cackling Soliloquist, and Improbable Stunt are not as severe, and the one with the steepest limitation (Tracker) comes with a hefty background bonus to make up for it.  Swashbuckle can use some love.  My player who adored Improbable Stunt on his playtest Monk specifically avoided Swashbuckle because of its cost, despite liking the concept.

Swashbuckle Adventurer Feat: When you use Swashbuckle roll a normal save.  If you succeed you regain momentum after completing the stunt*.

*Now that I'm re-reading the talent, it's unclear whether the suggested attack you make as part of the stunt can regain momentum if it hits.  I had initially thought no since it's part of the same action, but if you interpret it differently then this feat isn't really needed.  The more I'm thinking about it the more I like that interpretation of Swashbuckle, though, since it puts it at much more even footing with the others.  I'll leave the feat up nevertheless for instructive purposes.  

New Rogue Talent

Sniper: You can now deal sneak attack damage with ranged attacks, provided you are hidden from the target.  To become hidden you need appropriate cover or concealment and you need to succeed at a skill check based on the environment (normal for low light and/or lots of hiding places, hard or even very hard for brightly lit areas with sparse cover).  Make this check as part of your move action.  When you attack from hidden, whether you hit or miss, you give away your position.

Adventurer: Once per battle you can use sneak attack without being hidden provided the target is engaged with one of your allies.

Champion: Once per battle you can attempt to hide using a quick action.  

Epic: Once per battle when you crit with a ranged attack it deals triple damage instead of double damage.

3rd Level Rogue Powers

Distracting Shot

Ranged attack

at-will

Target: one enemy engaged with an ally

Attack: Dexterity + level vs AC

Hit: WEAPON + Dexterity damage, and if your natural attack roll was even the target is Dazed.

Miss: damage equal to your level.

Covering Fire

Ranged Attack

at-will

Target: one enemy engaged with an ally

Attack: Dexterity + level vs AC

Hit: WEAPON + Dexterity damage and an engaged ally can either immediately pop free as a free action or gain a +2 bonus to their next melee attack against the target.

Miss: damage equal to your level.

5th Level Rogue Powers

Snap Shot

Momentum Power

At-will (once per round)

Interrupt action; you must spend your momentum

Trigger: an enemy moves to engage you in melee

Effect: make a basic ranged attack against the triggering enemy.  The attack deals half damage if it hits.

Special: you can't gain momentum from hitting with Snap Shot.

Champion: if the attack hits the triggering enemy is also Dazed.

Epic: The Snap Shot attack deals full damage.

I'm Quicker Than You

Momentum Power

at-will

Trigger: you miss with an attack

Effect: spend your momentum to re-roll the attack, but without sneak attack damage even if you qualified for it with the original attack.

Champion: you get your sneak attack damage with the re-rolled attack.

Epic: If the re-rolled attack was a natural even hit, regain momentum.

13th Age Options: The Druid

It's been a while since I've written a 13th Age Options article (or, uh, posted much in general), so I thought I'd kick off the 13 True Ways classes with the Druid.  Not surprising since it's one of my favorite fantasy classes, especially the shapeshifter archetype.  Back in my initial review of 13 True Ways I hinted that I'd be doing an in-depth breakdown of the Druid class.  This is not that article, because quite frankly the class is complicated enough that I don't yet feel that I've fully digested everything yet.  This is despite playing a Druid in one of my current games.  In brief though, the sense that I've gotten from that experience so far (at least for the build I'm using, which is Shifter Adept and Terrain Caster Initiate) is that the Druid looks slightly weak on paper but in practice seems to perform about average.  I've got to watch my recoveries a bit more than most, but overall I feel pretty competent.

Shifter is interesting because it allows you to take the chassis of a spellcaster (no joke; instead of having decent defenses, HP, and recoveries like the Cleric, the Druid is at Wizard/Sorcerer level) and turn it into a melee fighter.  The only intrinsic bonus you get is the fact that Beast Form Attack offers really great damage per round (DPR).  So you're basically a glass cannon, particularly at low levels.  But that's where Aspects come in.  Aspects are limited-use (recharge for Adepts) and give you various mechanical bonuses while in beast form to model the differences between various animal forms.  Bear form makes you tougher and lets you mow through mooks, leopard form makes you quick and opportunistic, etc.  The key is that almost every form provides access to a stackable bonus to AC and PD (and sometimes MD).  Pop one aspect and now you've at least got Bard/Rogue level AC.  Take the feat(s) that let you stack aspects and you can even be somewhat tanky with the right ones.  While this was my hunch upon reading them, play experience has confirmed that a defense bonus is pretty much a necessity when designing Aspects.  Anything you transform into should have baseline toughness better than a spellcaster.

The existing Aspects are all really cool.  There were a couple that I initially considered underpowered and didn't think I'd take, but on a whim I used them with my character and found them to be really fun.  There's a nice mix of standard beasts like bears, tigers, and wolverines as well as more magical stuff like giant mantises, owlbears, and behemoths.  The one glaring hole is the lack of the obvious Wolf Aspect, and mechanically there's a paucity of control and mobility.  Basically, the published Aspects are very focused on boosting raw damage, durability, or both.  I figured I'd fix that by making Wolf Aspect more control-heavy (as well as making natural odd rolls a little more exciting).  It naturally rewards "pack tactics" as well.  I imagine it would be quite fun to combine with Animal Companion Initiate (sidebar: while Shifter Adept is really cool, I'm convinced that Shifter Initiate is the weakest of the initiate options, to the point where it's probably not worth taking).  As a counterpoint to Wolf Aspect I've added another magical beast, the Blink Dog (mostly because they're underrated).  This one's very focused on both mobility and defenses, making it the ideal "striker" Aspect.  It'll be quite effective at getting behind enemy lines to the priority target(s) and dealing with them.  It can also zip around the battlefield giving it a similar feel to a Monk or Rogue (or a 4E Predator Druid).

Aside from the new Aspects I also felt the need to add a general feat for boosting AC in beast form.  This will reduce the guilt for not choosing the Warrior Druid talent just to keep up with melee defenses, and it will give Shifters an easier time at low levels when they only have a couple of Aspects.  It should also let players feel like they don't have to pick up the more defensive Aspects just to keep up, missing out on offensive Aspects that they might rather take.  It might verge onto "must have" territory just a little bit, but the published Shifter feats aren't really very high-impact at low levels anyways because you'll need to stretch few Aspects out over a full day instead of stacking them.  If you're spending two Talents on Shifter, you should have some decent low-level feat choices.  Balance-wise, it's functionally identical to the Warrior Druid adventurer feat except that it only applies in beast form (as opposed to always), so I certainly wouldn't call it "overpowered."

After analyzing the Druid a bit more in-depth, comparing it to other classes, and some discussion online I've decided that a "Natural Armor" feat isn't quite what the class needs.  In fact, I think a reversion to the playtest Druid's base defensive stats is in order.  Thus, I've decided on the following suggested house rule to bring the 13th Age Druid up to consistency with tradition as a physically tougher spellcaster, if not one that's armored as well as a Cleric.

House Rule Revisions to Base Class

Revised Druid Armor Table

Type        Base AC        Attack Penalty
None            10                       -
Light            12*                     -
Heavy          14                     -2
Shield          +1                     -2*

Revised Druid Hit Points

Change from 6 + Con mod to 7 + Con mod.

Revisions to Warrior Druid

Your AC in light armor is 14 instead of 12 like most other Druids.
Your base hit points are 8 + Con mod instead of 7 + Con mod.


New Shifter Aspects


Wolf Aspect
Initiate Effect: Gain a +2 bonus to PD.  If the target is engaged with one of your allies, your natural odd beast form attacks deal an extra die of damage.
Adept Effect: As initiate effect, plus you can choose to make the target of your natural odd beast form attacks Vulnerable or Hampered.  Also, the bonus to PD applies to AC as well.

A: Allies gain a +2 bonus to melee attacks against enemies engaged with you that you hit on your previous turn.
C: Once per battle you can make the target of a natural even beast form attack Vulnerable or Hampered.
E:  Until the first time it recharges each day, Wolf Aspect is Recharge 11+ for Adepts instead of Recharge 16+.  



Blink Dog Aspect
Initiate Effect: Gain a +5 bonus to Disengage checks and when you hit with a natural 18+ the target is Dazed until the end of your next turn.
Adept Effect:  Gain a +2 bonus to AC and PD and once per battle you can teleport anywhere nearby as a free action.  

A: Gain a +2 bonus to beast form attack if you moved to engage the target this turn.  
C: Once per battle roll a save when you're hit with an attack.  On a success you take only half damage.
E: Until the first time it recharges each day, Blink Dog Aspect is Recharge 11+ for Adepts instead of Recharge 16+.



Natural Armor
Adventurer Feat: While in Beast Form you gain a +2 bonus to your AC.

13th Age Gnome Illusionist (RAW)

I had a random thought the other day about the lack of illusion spells in 13th Age and the fact that of all the Wizard specialist builds Illusionist has (arguably) been the most popular historically, and yet the only one we've gotten is the Necromancer (thanks to 13 True Ways).  Don't take that as a complaint against the Necromancer; it's never been well done (or even fully realized) in D&D, but 13th Age has knocked it out of the park!

Speaking of which, a review/impressions of 13 True Ways is forthcoming (as a Kickstarter backer I've had the PDF since the 27th), but I'm still reading through it.  Since it doesn't include an Illusionist, and none of the popular fan-made classes have been an Illusionist, I was thinking about how one might approach the archetype in 13th Age.  The more I thought about it, the more I realized that you can make one pretty much using the existing material.  Here is one such approach.  I'm leaving out Icons, Backgrounds, and OUT because it's more fun for a player to come up with that stuff on their own.  The point of this post is more to illustrate a concept than to provide a finished character.

Race: Gnome
Class: Bard
Level: 1

Ability Scores (tinker as desired):
Str 8, Dex 16 (class), Con 10, Int 18 (race), Wis 14, Cha 12

AC: 15
PD: 11
MD: 14
HP: 21

Recovery: 1d8+0

Talents:
Loremaster (replace Cha with Int, choose either of the other two benefits)
Battle Skald
Jack of Spells

Since Illusionists are traditionally Intelligence-based, it seemed appropriate to do the same here despite using the Bard class.  Conveniently, Loremaster ensures that there's no conflict here.  Battle Skald might seem like an odd choice but one of the key concepts of this build is that Battle Chant is going to be flavored as your bread-and-butter at-will illusions.  What exactly the illusion does will depend on the roll, and the damage can represent the loss of morale, growing frustration or fear, or simply the illusion causing the target to open their defenses such that an ally can exploit it.  Part of the fun of playing an Illusionist is letting your creativity run wild; even in D&D where options are usually pretty rigidly defined, illusion spells have always been an oasis of free-form improvisation.

Racial Powers:
Confounding
Minor Illusions

Powers and Spells:
Battle Chant
Befuddle
Terror (Necromancer), Blur (Wizard), or Ways of the Dark (Druid)

Stay Strong!, Move It!, We Need You!

So we've already established that Battle Chant will be flavored as your every day illusions.  What else do illusions do mechanically?  Well, they're intrinsically all about confusing your opponents and so any spell that applies the Confused condition is pure gold.  Bards do a lot of this, and Befuddle is your first workhorse.  You've got a few options for Jack of Spells, but Terror does a good job of emulating a terrifying illusion that causes any sane person to flee.  Blur represents an illusion applied to yourself (and could provide a useful defensive boost since this build is pretty squishy), and Ways of the Dark is a good way of creating the illusion that you (the caster) aren't even there.

As far as Battle Cries are concerned, notice that we're not taking the staple Pull It Together!  Illusionists aren't really about healing, so as tempting as it is the pick this up it's not really on-theme.  Illusions can, however, distract an enemy long enough to let an ally disengage or make a save, and Stay Strong! could represent a defensive illusion along the lines of Blur or Mirror Image, or it could also simply be a distracting illusion.

Feats:  Battle Chant

Even if Illusionists are more about control and misdirection, you still want to contribute to damage.  HP are an abstraction anyways, so keep in mind that you're not necessarily dealing physical wounds and play that up.  If you're the one to deal the "killing blow" to an enemy, try to think more along the lines of taking them out of the conflict as opposed to actually knocking them unconscious.  A distracted mind could lead to physical harm, sure, but it can be just as interesting if the enemy flees out of fear, or simply because they're chasing something that's not there!

Level 5

So let's check in with our Gnome Illusionist now that we've achieved Champion tier.  While it doesn't matter quite yet with the array I've chosen (all evens), at level 4 we've boosted INT because it's the primary attack ability of the Loremaster Bard, as well as the Wizard and Necromancer, two highly useful classes to Jack spells from.  It's also probably a good idea to boost WIS (the Cleric and Druid both offer attractive options for Spell-Jacking as well, not to mention that it contributes to AC) and Dex (again, we're thinking about AC here but Initiative is also important, and besides that if you ever need to actually hit something with a melee weapon you can use Dex for that as a Bard).

Now let's see what's changed.

3rd Level Spells:
Befuddle
Vicious Mockery
Song of Spilt Blood

5th Level Spells:
Battle Chant
Discombobulate
Terror (Necromancer)
AND/OR Cause Fear (Cleric)
AND/OR Ways of the Dark (Druid)
AND/OR one of the following Wizard spells:
Color Spray
Confusion
Rebuke
Denial
Blur
Invisibility

Battle Cries:
Take Heart!
Move It!
Stay Strong!
It's All Yours!

Feats:
1. Battle Chant (A)
2. Battle Skald (A)
3. It's All Yours! (A)
4. Befuddle (A)
5. Jack of Spells (C)

Note that I've taken the Champion feat for Jack of Spells without first taking the Adventurer feat, as per the optional rule that GMs can allow players to take higher tier feats if they don't build off of the lower tier feat.  I don't consider the "use X ability in place of Y" feats particularly useful since you'll generally only get 1 spell from another class with these Talents, and they're usually Daily options.  Combined with the fact that spells are usually pretty accurate since they target PD or MD, I fail to see how a +2 1/day is that big of a deal (assuming you're trying to boost a WIS spell from the Cleric or Druid).  Not to mention the fact that most Illusionists will probably pick a Necromancer or Wizard spell anyways, and so everything you've got probably uses INT.  Thus, the Adventurer tier feat for Jack of Spells will either do nothing or not much (Jacking Terror from the Necromancer is probably your best bet), and so if your GM insists that you take it before the Champion feat they're just being a jerk.

Level 10

So what does this Illusionist look like at the end game?  Let's find out!

Spells (all 9th Level):
Battle Chant
Discombobulate
Befuddle
Vicious Mockery
Song of Spilt Blood
Song of Victory
Song of Destinies
Terror (Necromancer)
Cause Fear (Cleric)
one of the previously mentioned Wizard spells
OR Ways of the Dark (Druid)

By the time you reach Epic tier you should probably have BOTH Terror and Cause Fear because the concept of creating an illusion so frightening that your opponent wets their pants and runs for the hills is just too fun to pass up.  The Wizard offers a ton of strong options that can be flavored as Illusion spells, but if you want an at-will alternative to Battle Chant you'll probably want to pick up Ways of the Dark from the Druid.  Although Color Spray just might be good enough as a cyclic spell, since by now you'll have enough options to keep you pretty busy.

The songs might come across as a bit odd on an Illusionist, but you don't have to literally sing them.  Just say they're illusions that require some concentration to sustain.  Some of these are a bit of a stretch, but ultimately I went with the options that fit the concept best, if not 100% perfectly.  Again, I'll reiterate that even though you're using the Bard class you'll mostly be staying away from healing options.  You might want to just tell your party that you're playing an Illusionist and re-name all of your spells so they don't get false expectations when they hear you say "Bard."

Battle Cries:
Take Heart!
Move It!
Stay Strong!
It's All Yours!
Victory is Ours!
They Fall Before Us!
The Time is Now!

Feats:
1. Battle Chant (A)
2. Battle Skald (A)
3. It's All Yours! (A)
4. Befuddle (A)
5. Jack of Spells (C)
6. Battle Skald (C)
7. It's All Yours! (C)
8. Jack of Spells (E)
9. They Fall Before Us! (E)
10. Confounding (C)

Obviously feats are where an individual player has the most leeway.  They're designed to allow you to specialize in certain areas, and Bards (especially those with Jack of Spells) tend to have a lot of options that can be improved via feats.  The most important feats are Jack of Spells (because other classes have excellent options that can easily be flavored as Illusions, and having a bunch of stuff that fits well also serves to dilute those options (like some of the songs) that are a bit more borderline) and that first Battle Chant feat (because you'll really want to avoid swinging a melee weapon; an Illusionist is a spellcaster, and you're trying to create the feel of a Wizard more than a duelist Bard!).  

Obligation in 13th Age

I've been intrigued by the idea of porting the Obligation mechanic from EotE into other games ever since our first campaign.  Since 13th Age has been the other main game that our group plays it seemed like a good candidate, but I never really pursued the notion since OUT, Backgrounds, and Icon relationships are existing narrative mechanics that can serve the same purpose (though not as well), and I figured adding a fourth would just be too much.

Then I came across this adaptation of the Warlock for 13th Age, from the Mystic Theurge blog.  The genius of the Warlock is that it's not a class per-se, but rather an add-on that really gets down to the core concept for what makes it unique - the fact that you've made a pact with a powerful being.  The additional class feature very simply gives you a free 1 point Icon relationship (which you can invest more points into) with whatever being you've entered into a pact with.  Most likely this will not be an established Icon.  Any 5 or 6 is more or less resolved as normally, but with a supernatural flair reflecting the fact that it's a magical pact boon.  When you roll a 1, though, your patron has an Agenda for you.  As the blog entry states, this was based on Obligation from Star Wars, but obviously re-skinned to fit into the existing paradigm for Icon rolls.

I began to think more about this idea when I was creating my Druid (playtest version) for our current 13th Age game.  His OUT is that he was the only survivor of a town swallowed up by a hellhole, but in the process he was infected with the blood of a demon (he's a Tiefling).  He has a 2 point negative relationship with the Crusader because they want to hunt him down, as they consider him an abomination.  He's always on the run, thus creating the perfect set-up for Obligation!  Just interpret any 1's rolled as his Obligation being triggered.

There are a few things to keep in mind when using this mechanic, though.  As-is, it's adding a strictly "negative" consequence for your PC with nothing positive to compensate for it, though a certain type of player (myself included) enjoys the narrative complications that crop up even if the character wouldn't.  Some players might not necessarily view it as fair though, especially if others in the group don't have this extra burden.  There are a few different ways of handling this that I can think of off the top of my head.  Like with Obligation, the PC could gain access to additional resources.  This is basically how the Warlock works, since you get an extra relationship die with which 5's and 6's can be rolled.  This is a good, tangible benefit for a player with "Obligation."  Alternatively, you might extend the benefit of the existing dice instead of granting more dice, so that a roll of 4 counts the same way as a 5.  In this way the negative results of rolling 1 are countered by the fact that you expand your chances of rolling a benefit by 1/6 as well.  In both of these scenarios there is an additional burden placed on the GM, however.  For some GMs who have an easy time using Icon rolls already, this might not even be considered a burden.  But in our current campaign we're rotating GMs, and it's becoming clear that everyone but myself is having quite a bit of trouble actually using Icon results.  The GM tends to groan when a lot of results are rolled for a session, and adding even more results would only exacerbate the problem.

This can be ameliorated by trying to replicate the Obligation mechanic from EotE even more faithfully.  First up, in Star Wars a PC can increase Obligation for the chance to get more starting funds or some extra starting XP.  Give the 13th Age character with "Obligation" some starting resources, too!  A true magic item seems like a good candidate, though it might be a bit more powerful than some groups are comfortable with.  A handful of runes and/or potions might work nicely, though.  Another hallmark of Obligation as it works in EotE is that you can voluntarily take more on during play in order to gain some immediate benefit.  The classic examples are taking on debt to get some gear you can't afford, or agreeing to some future favor that can be called in (probably at an inconvenient time).  The Icon mechanic can handle this, too, since one of their suggested uses is an event-based roll for dramatic events.  Simply give players with "Obligation" ample opportunity to utilize event-based rolls.  Along those same lines, for groups that want to handle it in as simple a way as possible you can simply balance out the "bad things happen on a 1" mechanic by saying those good things that happen on a 5 or 6, those tend to be better than they are for players who don't have "Obligation."  Because of your special status as a thorn in that Icon's side, the enemy's of that Icon are apt to look more favorably on you, and are willing to go that extra mile to help you out.

13th Age Options: The Wizard (Part 2)

In Part 1 of this article I covered the first half of the Wizard's cantrip list.  Here are the rest of the spells.

Light
This one should be pretty self-explanatory.  Daylight can ruin a vampire's day, and there's the obvious application of blinding enemies with a bright flash of light.  You could also look to mimic the effect of a blasting spell like Lighting Bolt and call it a giant laser.

Daylight (3rd level spell)
Ranged Spell
Effect: The area Nearby is illuminated in full daylight, to the detriment of any creatures adversely affected by the sun (like Vampires).  This illumination lasts for the duration of the battle (or 5 minutes if out of combat).
5th Level: The duration of Daylight is 1d4 hours, and it affects 1d4 rooms in a dungeon (or similar area outside of a dungeon).
7th Level: The duration of Daylight is 2d4 hours, and it affects 2d4 rooms in a dungeon (or similar area outside of a dungeon).

Glitterdust (3rd level spell)
Ranged Spell
Target: 1d3 nearby enemies in a group with 60 HP or fewer.
Attack: Int + level vs MD (Dazed/Blind only)
Hit: The target is Dazed (Save Ends).
Natural 16+: the target is Blind instead (use Invisibility rules - any attacks have a 50% chance of missing).
Effect: Any Invisible targets become outlined, losing the benefit of invisibility, and any attempts at Stealth take a -10 penalty.
5th Level: 100 HP or fewer.
7th Level: 160 HP or fewer.
9th Level: 250 HP or fewer.

Sunburst (3rd level spell)
Ranged Spell
Target: 1d3 nearby creatures in a group, and any allies engaged with them.
Attack: Int + level vs PD
Hit: Targets are Blind (use Invisibility rules - any attacks have a 50% chance of missing) (Save Ends)
Miss: Targets are Dazed (Save Ends)
5th Level: 1d3+1 targets, and on a Natural 16+ a Hard Save ends the Blind condition.
7th Level: Hard Save Ends on any hit.
9th Level: Allies engaged with targets get a +5 bonus to PD against your attack.


Mage Hand
Who doesn't love the various versions of good ol' Bigby's Hand spells?  This one was almost too obvious...

Forceful Hand (3rd level spell)
Ranged Spell
Target: 1 medium-sized creature
Attack: Int + level vs PD
Hit:  4d12 damage and you push the target back up to Far Away.
Miss: Half damage
5th Level: 7d12 damage, and the hand can push Large creatures.
7th Level: 10d12 damage and if the target is medium it is also Prone (can stand up as part of its move action, but must succeed at a Normal Save to reach its intended destination).  
9th Level: 2d12 x 10 damage, and the hand can push huge creatures and knock large creatures Prone.

Grasping Hand (5th level spell)
Ranged Spell
Target: 1 medium-sized creature
Attack: Int + level vs PD
Hit: 7d12 damage and the hand grabs the target.  While grabbed, the target cannot make opportunity attacks or ranged attacks, and suffers a -5 penalty to disengage checks unless it first attacks the hand (all attacks against the hand are made against the Wizard's MD; the hand has no HP).  You can spend a move action each turn to sustain the hand (and the grab), but if the grabbed creature escapes roll an Easy Save; if you succeed you can spend a standard action to move the hand over to it and make the initial attack again.
Natural Even Miss: the target is grabbed.
Natural Odd Miss: half damage.
7th Level: 10d12 damage, and the hand can grab large creatures.
9th Level: 2d12 x 10, and the hand can grab huge creatures.


Mending
This one could be tough, but one way to look at it is using spells that can set things right or undo alterations.  Maybe even grant some arcane healing if you don't mind challenging the niche protection of the Cleric, Bard, etc. (not that I'm going to go there).  Or, play off of the thread motif to create Web.

Dispel Magic (3rd level spell)
Ranged Spell
Target: 1 object or creature affected by a spell or other magical effect cast by a creature with 100 HP or fewer, or if the caster isn't present in a Adventurer tier environment.
Attack: Int + level vs MD of the caster (or a DC appropriate to the environment)
Effect: The effects of the spell or magical effect end immediately.  If used on an ally suffering from a save-ends effect, the condition is removed, no save required.
5th Level: 160 HP or fewer, or a Champion tier environment.
7th Level: 250 HP or fewer, or an Epic tier environment.
9th Level: 500 HP or fewer, or an Iconic tier environment.

Web (5th level spell)
Ranged Spell
Target: 1d3 Nearby creatures in a group with 60 HP or fewer.
Attack: Int + level vs PD
Hit: The target is Stuck (Normal Save Ends)
Natural 16+: Hard Save Ends
7th Level: 100 HP or fewer, and the spell can target groups of creatures that are Far Away.
9th Level: 160 HP or fewer, and the spell targets 1d4+1 creatures in a group.


Prestidigitation
"Tricksy" spells work well here, including any Illusion effects.  Honestly you can probably get away with quite a bit here without breaking theme, including any Conjuration spell you can think of, and arguably many Abjuration spells.

Illusory Image (3rd level spell)
Ranged Spell
Attack: Int + level vs MD (attack made against any target that interacts with the image, with a failure indicating that they recognize it as an illusion).
Effect: You create an illusory image about the size of a medium-sized creature or smaller somewhere Nearby.  The image is purely visual, projecting no other sensory information.  You can sustain the image with a standard action, and it lasts as long as you can concentrate on sustaining it.
5th Level: You can create the image Far Away (provided you have line of sight to it), and the image can either be Large or smaller OR be Medium but with sound.
7th Level: You can create a Large or smaller image with full sensory information (except tactile).
9th Level: Your images can be Huge or smaller, with full sensory information (except tactile).

Obscuring Mist (3rd level spell)
Ranged Spell
Effect: You cause the space Nearby to fill with dense fog or mist.  Any creature in the mist, or attacking something inside of the mist, treats targets as Invisible (50% chance to miss outright, before even rolling an attack).  Targets engaged with each other in the mist can attack as normal.  Engaging or evading someone within the mist requires an appropriate skill check (likely Wis) against the target's MD+5.  You can sustain this spell with a Standard action each round, and the mist lasts 1d3 rounds after the first round it's not sustained.
5th Level: You can conjure the mist somewhere Far Away that you can see, and it fills the space Nearby to its center.
7th Level: The mist lasts until the end of a battle (or 5 minutes outside of combat) without needing to be sustained, and for 1d3 minutes after that in calm weather.  If exposed to moderate to strong winds, the mist instead dissipates in 1d3 rounds unless you use a Standard action to sustain it.


Spark
Because the Wizard already gets Fireball, which is the most obvious souped-up application of Spark, this cantrip might be somewhat redundant.  Of course if you're going for a Pyromancer-themed Wizard you can simply change damage types on certain spells.  Turning Acid Arrow into fire damage is a really easy way to make a Flame Arrow or Produce Flame spell.  Lightning Bolt might be a Flaming Sphere rolling its way across the battlefield.  A fire-based version of Denial might entail you summoning a bed of hot coals beneath the feet of your enemies.

13th Age Options: The Wizard (Part 1)

I'm going in a different direction for this installment of 13th Age Options.  Instead of a list of new options for the Wizard, I'm going to explore an existing Wizard talent, Cantrip Mastery.  Any player who wants more variety of spells, including getting more control out of their Wizard, should seriously consider choosing Cantrip Mastery.

The simple fact is that this talent already gives a player carte blanche for creating new spells.  Instead of re-inventing the wheel, I'll provide some examples of new spells that can be created in this way, including some iconic ones that were not included in the core book.  These aren't meant to be a comprehensive list; use them as a baseline to create your own.  Not all of these spells are going to be geared toward use in a conventional fight, and some will be very situational, but that's the whole point.  A Wizard can create arcane formulae to solve whatever problem is at hand, and it makes sense that someone who can manipulate the very fabric of reality should be thinking outside the box.

As it turns out, I had a lot of ideas for cantrip-derived Wizard spells.  And they're pretty time-consuming to create.  Therefore, I'm splitting this article into two parts.  Click here for Part Two!

Cantrip Mastery

Alarm
When turning Alarm into a daily option, the obvious routes are either defensive spells (though Wizards already get a lot of these, including the most iconic ones) or sonic-based spells (which can also apply to Ghost Sound).

Magic Circle Against Evil - see the 7th level Cleric spell "Circle of Protection."  Change it to a Standard action (because we don't want to upstage the Cleric).

Repulsion (3rd level spell)
Close Spell
Effect: For the rest of the battle any enemy that attempts to engage with you or an ally that you're engaged with must succeed at a Hard Save.
5th Level: An enemy that fails the save is bounced back and knocked Prone (they can stand up as part of their move action, but must succeed at a Normal Save to reach their destination).
7th Level: Enemies are bounced back with such force after failing a save that they take 4d10 damage.
9th Level:  6d10 damage.

Soundburst - see the 1st level Bard spell (starting at the 3rd level version).  Keep the damage dice, but don't add an ability modifier to damage (again, we don't want to upstage another class).

Arcane Mark
I immediately thought of the "Symbol of..." and "Power Word..." spells of previous editions of D&D.

Power Word Stun - (3rd level spell)
Ranged spell
Target: One nearby creature with fewer than 100 HP.
Attack: Int + level vs PD
Hit: The target is Stunned (save ends)
Natural Even Miss: the target is Weakened until the end of your next turn.
5th Level: 160 HP
7th Level: 250 HP (or 2 targets with 125 HP or fewer)
9th Level: 500 HP (or 2 targets with 250 HP or fewer)

Symbol of Sleep - (3rd level spell)
Special: takes several minutes to cast (so outside of combat).  You inscribe a magical rune on an object.
Trigger: a creature looks at the rune, reads it, touches it, or passes over it.
Effect: all nearby creatures (except you, if you're present) with 60 HP or fewer roll a Normal Save.  On a failure, they fall into an enchanted sleep for 3d10 minutes, and can only be woken up before that by magical means.  
5th Level: 100 HP
7th Level: 160 HP
9th Level: 250 HP

Ghost Sound
I can see this cantrip being used as a baseline for necromancy spells (things might change when the actual Necromancer class is published) and, like Alarm, sonic spells.

Ray of Enfeeblement (3rd level spell)
Ranged Spell
Target: 1 nearby creature
Attack: Int + level vs PD
Hit: 5d8 negative energy damage and the target is Weakened (Save Ends)
Miss:  Half damage
5th Level: 8d8 damage
7th Level: 8d12 damage, or 2 targets for 3d12 damage each.
9th Level: 4d4x10 damage, or 2 targets for 2d4x10 damage each.

Shatter (3rd level spell)
Close Spell
Target: All Nearby crystal, glass, ice, or objects of similar material.
Effect:  Target items shatter, and any such structures that a creature is standing on or under (i.e. standing on the surface of a frozen lake) must make a Hard Save to avoid damage (see p.186 Impromptu Damage chart) or other negative effects.
Special: this spell doesn't automatically get better by leveling, but when you're in higher-tier environments the impromptu damage will go up.  You'll also be hindering the plans of your higher-level enemies.  In practice, just prepare this in your lowest-level spell slot (whatever level that may be) and call it a day.
Note: Yes, this spell will destroy potion vials.  Unless the PCs take special precautions to insulate their potions, they should stay at Far Away range when the Wizard sets this off.

Soundburst - see the 1st level Bard spell (starting at the 3rd level version).  Keep the damage dice, but don't add an ability modifier to damage (again, we don't want to upstage another class).

Knock
If Knock normally helps you get through mundane doorways, a daily version might manipulate planar doorways.  Or if your vision of knock involves smashing the door open, then there's all kinds of object-destroying potential to be had.

Banish/Dismissal (5th level spell)
Ranged Spell
Target: 1 Nearby creature with 100 HP or fewer.
Attack: Int + level vs MD
Hit: The target is removed from play, sent to a dimension or plane of your choice.  Of course ripping holes in the barriers between realities usually results in some side effect.  You gain 1 cursed die (see the Bard's Balladeer talent) with the Icon associated with the banished creature, or with another Icon of the GM's choice (the Archmage, Diabolist, High Druid, Crusader, and the Great Gold Wyrm are all good candidates).  A roll of 1 or 2 might mean that something else came through the barrier, you opened another tear somewhere else accidentally, or the Icon has sensed what you've done and...taken an interest in you.
Miss: You gain 3 cursed dice with an appropriate Icon.
7th Level: 160 HP or fewer
9th Level: 250 HP or fewer


Destroy Object (3rd level spell)
Ranged Spell
Target: 1 Nearby object of any material, no bigger than a humanoid creature.
Attack: Int + level vs PD of the object's wielder (if applicable); true magic items are only destroyed on a natural 16+, otherwise on a hit they're taken out for the scene or battle.
Effect: The object is destroyed violently, and any creatures engaged with it are hit with shrapnel (see p.186 of the core rulebook for the Impromptu Damage table).
Level 5: The affected object can be Large or smaller.
Level 7: The affected object can be Huge or smaller.

13th Age Options: The Sorcerer

To an outside observer a Sorcerer and a Wizard might look like they're doing pretty much the same thing (slinging around arcane spells), but as an archetype the chaotic, random, untrained Sorcerer stands in stark contrast with the organized, studious, and intellectual Wizard.  In 13th Age the Sorcerer class lends itself well to being the "simpler" spellcaster, with a strong emphasis on destruction and raw, elemental power.  While the options at the class's disposal are consistent with that, there are a couple of issues with them from the perspective of some players.

The first is that since the Sorcerer is all about blowing stuff up as opposed to using utility and control spells, you reach a thematic saturation point pretty quickly and as a result the Sorcerer's spell list is much shorter than the Wizard's.  The problem isn't that this is the case, but rather the degree to which it's true.  At second level a Sorcerer isn't so much choosing which 5 spells out of its pool to use so much as which 1 spell out of its pool of 6 not to use.  That really doesn't make for much of an actual choice, as it basically boils down to: a) will I need Resist Energy? and b) if so which of these three at-wills can I live without?  More lower-level spells are most certainly in order.

The second problematic point is that while the Sorcerer talents are as a whole really well-done, the Wizard has some really awesome improvisational tools at its disposal in Cantrip Mastery and Vance's Polysyllabic Verbalizations.  Sure, it's consistent with the "well-prepared, over-planning, I-have-a-tool-for-everything" vision of many Wizards, but whose to say improvisational spellcasting is inconsistent with the Sorcerer's schtick?  As the beginning of the class description points out "Sorcerers are self-taught genius freaks with an intuitive mastery of magic and possibly some brain damage.  They tap into the icons' power with or without the icons' permission."  Emphasis mine.  Magic is quite literally in a Sorcerer's blood, so why shouldn't they be able to manipulate raw arcane energy into non-standard effects through sheer force of will?  The answer is, quite simply, there's no reason to bar the Sorcerer from that kind of power.  Hence, the Spell Shaper Talent for players who appreciate that kind of playstyle.

It's also worth considering that while Dicey Moves (or an expansion of that concept like The Mazarbul Gamble) are available to all PCs, such rules are more easily (and more commonly) applied to physical stunts.  That's not to say a GM can't use them to allow players more creative freedom in manipulating their spells, but it's less intuitive and it feels more like "breaking the rules."  Since magic isn't real we don't have any reference point as players for how it should work; we rely much more heavily on the mechanics and descriptions of things in the rules.  For physical stunts it's easy for a GM to make a ruling because things probably work much like they do in the real world (or the exaggerated and more cinematic world of action movies; either way it's something most GMs are familiar with).

New Sorcerer Talent

Spell Shaper
This talent functions much like the Wizard's talent "Vance's Polysyllabic Verbalizations," but without all of that stuffy, snooty spell re-naming.  Rather, when you spend a quick action (in addition to the standard action it takes to cast the spell) you're taking a little extra effort to pull in some extra, possibly unrelated, arcane energy from elsewhere in the aether.  Or maybe you're just twisting and contorting the existing arcane energy into something similar but slightly different.  Only Daily and Recharge spells have enough raw power to be affected in such a way.  You and your GM should collaborate on a mechanical effect to match the narrative description of how your spell is being altered.  

Unlike the more formulaic alterations that a Wizard makes by adding a few words, a Sorcerer's spell shaping harnesses the raw arcane forces present at that particular place, in that particular time.  Therefore, the extra effects produced are more likely to draw from the Sorcerer's present environment, the situation at hand, or even the people or creatures present.  It's very unlikely that a Sorcerer can produce the exact same extra effect twice, though different effects may be modeled by the same mechanics (for example, Dazed is a good workhorse Condition that can model a wide variety of things).  

Examples: You're fighting Drow with poisoned weapons, and harness the nearby poison energy to turn your Breath of the White from Cold to Poison damage.  In doing so, you've stripped all the poison from 1 enemy's weapons and/or person.  

In an iron-rich cave system, your Lightning Fork magnetizes some of the iron ore, causing a nearby enemy wearing metal armor to be yanked toward the wall, Stuck for a round.

Later on, while fighting in the open under an overcast sky that threatens storms, your Lightning Fork causes a thunderstorm to spring up then and there, restricting visibility and making the ground a muddy mess.

Adventurer Feat: Once per day after you've gathered power, you have enough raw arcane potential to use Spell Shaper on a double-strength at-will spell.
Champion Feat: You can use Spell Shaper on an at-will spell after gathering power twice per day.
Epic Feat: Once per day instead of gaining the normal benefits of Spell Shaper, you can pull an expended Daily spell out of the aether, but you must use it during this battle or it's lost.



New Sorcerer Spells

Chromatic Orb (1st level)

Ranged spell

Daily

Target: 1d3 nearby enemies in a group

Attack: Cha + level vs PD

Hit: 2d10 + Cha damage, roll a D6 to determine which color was active upon impact.

1: Red - Fire damage + 5 Ongoing

2: Orange - Thunder damage and the target is Dazed (normal save ends)

3: Yellow - Lightning damage and roll an attack against one additional nearby enemy determined at random.

4: Green - Acid damage + 5 Ongoing

5: Blue - Cold damage and the target is Stuck (normal save ends)

6: Purple - Psychic damage and one target is Confused until the end of your next turn.

Miss: Half damage

3rd Level: 4d8 damage

5th Level: 6d10; red and green deal 10 ongoing damage, Orange becomes Weakened instead of Dazed, Blue becomes Stuck and Dazed.

7th Level: 2d6 x 10; Red and Green deal 10 ongoing damage, Orange becomes Weakened instead of Dazed, Blue becomes Stuck and Dazed, Purple becomes two targets.

9th Level: 4d4 x 10; Red and Green deal 20 ongoing damage, Orange becomes Stunned instead of Dazed, Blue becomes Stunned instead of Stuck, Purple becomes two targets, and Confused becomes normal save ends.

Flame Mantle (1st Level)

Close Spell

Daily

Target: Personal

Effect: For the rest of the battle, any enemy engaged with you at the end of their turn takes 2d4 fire damage.

3rd Level: 2d6 damage, and you gain Resist Cold 12+ until the end of the battle.

5th Level: 3d8 damage, and this spell can now be cast as a quick action.

7th Level: 5d8 damage, and your Resist Cold increases to 16+.

9th Level: 7d8 damage, and you take half damage from all natural odd attacks.

Ball Lightning (3rd Level)

Ranged Spell

Recharge 16+

Special: When you cast this spell, you can choose to cast it recklessly.  If you do, gain a chaotic benefit as if you'd gathered power.

Target: 1d2 nearby enemies in a group.  If you cast recklessly, this increases to 1d3+1 enemies in a group, but allies engaged with any of the targets may take damage as well (see below).

Attack: Cha + level vs PD

Hit: 5d6 + Cha lightning damage

Miss: Half damage

Reckless Miss: Your allies engaged with the target take one fourth damage.

5th Level: 4d10 damage

7th Level: 6d12 damage

9th Level: 10d12 damage

Ice Javelins (3rd Level)

Ranged Spell

Recharge 11+

Target: 2 nearby creatures.

Attack: Cha + level vs PD

Hit: 2d8 +Cha Cold damage and the target is Stuck until the end of your next turn.

Miss: Half damage.

5th Level: 4d8 damage

7th Level: 6d8 damage

9th Level: 8d8 damage

Adventurer Feat: Stuck becomes Normal Save Ends.

Champion Feat: On a natural even miss the target is Stuck.

Epic Feat: This spell becomes Recharge 6+ and on a natural 16+ the target is Stunned instead of Stuck.

Making the Most out of Knowledge Checks

Knowledge checks can often fall flat in tabletop RPGs, or at least this happens a lot in my games.  Either the GM has information that they'd planned on giving out anyways, in which case calling for a Knowledge check can be a formality (and a frustrating one if it's failed), or the player requests to roll a Knowledge check and, put on the spot, the GM can't think of anything particularly interesting or impactful on the fly.  While it can be cool to play the know-it-all, sometimes you just can't help feeling that you're not getting as much bang for your buck as players who have invested in more "active" skills.

I was skimming through Dungeon World today, and one of the GM Principles stuck with me: "ask [the PCs] questions and use the answers."  Combined with one of the three bullet points on the GM's Agenda, "Play to find out what happens," a GM can make Knowledge checks a lot more interesting and engaging by soliciting player involvement.

What this means is that when a PC asks to roll a Knowledge check and you don't already have something in mind, if they succeed you can ask them to tell you what their character knows about the subject.  If it ends up taking things in a completely different direction than you'd planned, well that's a great embodiment of "play to find out what happens."  As an "explorer" type player, I like to learn details about the fictional world even when I'm GMing, and (for me at least) these types of twists make GMing a lot more enjoyable.

All of the sudden players might be scrambling to pick up some Knowledge skills for the chance to influence the narrative.  There's a real, tangible benefit from the character's knowledge instead of some half-formed "fact" that often ends up being fairly pointless, if not entirely uninteresting, when the GM is forced to come up with something on the spot.  Obviously this could potentially be abusable by certain types of players, and the GM should counter that without devaluing the skill by building off of the player's suggestion to keep it in-line power-wise, and/or varying the difficulty based on the specificity of the information.  And ultimately, a roll should only be made where it's dramatically appropriate; players should know that they can't just knowledge-spam in an attempt to power-game (most players probably wouldn't go for that anyways).

Here are a few examples:

• The party finds an ancient religious text in some old ruins.  Instead of the GM answering a successful Knowledge check with "it's a history of X deity," they ask the player "it refers to X deity, what interesting fact or legend have you heard regarding them?"  If the fact is relevant to the current adventure in some way, all the better!
• When encountering a new type of creature a PC rolls a knowledge check to learn about any possible weaknesses.  With a success, the GM says "ok, you can tell me a little-known weakness of this creature."  This should be kept narratively interesting; answers like "uhhhh, it's vulnerable to swords because I'm carrying a sword" are pretty lame.  As a GM, you can build on that by saying "oh yes, there are tales from ancient Akaras that say the beast is vulnerable to swords.  Of course, all swords from that time were made from Akaran steel, so they felt no need to specify that an 'Akaran blade' was the beast's true weakness."  Instant story hook, and now when the PCs seek out an Akaran blade they'll have a tangible mechanical advantage against this creature.

You can take this idea even further by employing a variant of the "fail forward" philosophy.  That is to say, failure is not simply a dead end, but leads to a different approach that needs to be taken or a pseudo-success but with complications.  Say a PC fails their Knowledge check (or in a system like Edge of the Empire, perhaps they even succeeded with Threat or Despair).  You can provide one fact, and then ask the player to provide an additional fact.  Alternatively, you can have another player at the table provide one of the facts.  Then you roll randomly to determine which of those facts is true, and which is false.  The player will know that one of the facts is false (just not which one), but the character will probably think that both are true.  Acting on misinformation can provide interesting (and sometimes hilarious) results, but the player can't complain too much since they got something true out of the deal, too.  

Alternatively, the complication might be that the player provides just one fact and the GM rolls randomly to determine whether it's true or false.  This works especially well if nobody at the table can think of a second fact right away, and you want to keep the game moving at a fast pace.  It's worth noting that the "is it true?" technique shouldn't be used for all failed Knowledge checks, because it has the potential to become frustrating.  You definitely don't want PCs to be afraid to attempt Knowledge checks!  What's "too much" will vary group to group, but once every few sessions might be a good baseline to start at.

When the GM rolls randomly any die roll that offers a 50/50 result should do just fine, but in some games it might be interesting to make a special type of roll.  The Force Die in Edge of the Empire springs to mind (the GM notes one of the facts, and if a dark side result is rolled it's false, with perhaps more severe consequences if it's a double dark side pip).  The "degrees of truth" idea can also be used with the feat die in The One Ring, making the d12 roll potentially more interesting than a 50/50 roll using a d6 (if the Eye of Sauron or Gandalf rune are rolled, up the stakes).  

13th Age Options: The Ranger

The Ranger is an odd class from a design standpoint.  While it's generally grouped with the simple classes (alongside Barbarian and Paladin), it's arguably the most complex of the three with multiple options for nabbing spells, an improvisational terrain stunt talent, and access to an animal companion that gives you two creatures to control.  It's also the only class without any class features, and it doesn't have any powers either.  To compensate many of its talents are on the stronger side compared with other classes, it has the best AC in light armor,  can use Dex for melee attacks, and in the case of the animal companion feats it sets a precedent that not all feats need to be taken progressively.

The no class feature thing kind of bugs me, but I'm not about to alter a class so radically as to give it a class feature where it had none.  However, considering that the book invites players to swap talents if it suits the story (even going so far as using the Ranger's Animal Companion as an example), it can start to feel like the Ranger gets the shaft.  With no powers or class features to make it stand out from the crowd, why not just swap Ranger talents with a Fighter or another class?

A minimally disruptive way to fix this would be to homebrew a list of new feats, since Rangers already have a precedent for feat flexibility.  This is also a good opportunity to fill another gap in the Ranger's design, which is a lack of mobility from a class that's typically seen as a wilderness skirmisher.  Restrict these new mobility feats to being useable only while wearing light or no armor, and all of the sudden the Ranger's looking pretty nice since it's hands-down the best with light armor!

New Ranger Feats

Distraction
Special: Requires Animal Companion (all) OR Ranger's Pet (Adventurer only); only useable in light or no armor.
Adventurer: Once per battle you can pop free from an enemy that your Animal Companion or Pet is also engaged with.  
Champion: If you're intercepted by an enemy, roll a normal save.  On a success your Animal Companion intercepts the enemy before they reach you, popping free from any enemies it's already engaged with.  If you attempt this a second time during this battle, it becomes a hard save.

Fast Reactions
Special: Requires First Strike; only useable in light or no armor.
Adventurer: You can take a free move action when you roll initiative.
Champion: If you're intercepted by an enemy that you haven't attacked yet roll a normal save.  On a success you can continue to move past them, unhindered.

Hamstring Foe
Special: Requires Two Weapon Mastery; only useable in light or no armor.
Adventurer: Once per battle you can turn an adjacent enemy's successful disengage check into a failure.
Champion: After turning an enemy's disengage check into a failure, that enemy is also Weakened until the start of its next turn.

Hobbling Shot
Special: Requires Archery
Adventurer: When you hit with a re-rolled ranged attack the target is Stuck until the end of your next turn.
Champion: Once per battle when you hit with a ranged attack you can choose to deal half damage and Weaken the target.

Nature's Wards
Special: Requires Ranger  ex Cathedral
Adventurer: Once per battle when you miss with an attack the target pops free from you or a nearby ally.
Champion: If the target of your Nature's Wards power tries to re-engage with you or your ally on their next turn, they must succeed at a normal save or fail, wasting their movement.

Predictable Movement
Special: Requires Favored Enemy OR Lethal Hunter; only useable in light or no armor.
Adventurer: You gain a bonus to disengage checks against your Favored Enemy or the target of your Lethal Hunter equal to your Wisdom modifier.
Champion: If your Favored Enemy or the target of your Lethal Hunter moves to engage one of your allies make a normal save.  On a success you can intercept them even if you're already engaged.
Epic: Once per battle when you intercept your Favored Enemy or the target of your Lethal Hunter, make a free basic attack against them.

Quick Footwork
Special: Requires Double Melee or Double Ranged Attack; only useable in light or no armor.
Adventurer: When your basic attack is a natural odd roll, gain a bonus to disengage checks equal to your Dexterity modifier.
Champion: Once per battle if you roll a natural 16+ you can take a free move action in addition to possibly triggering a second attack or a bonus to disengage checks.

Step of the Fey
Special: Requires Fey Queen's Enchantments
Adventurer: Recharge 11+.  You can teleport to any nearby location that you can see.
Champion: Step of the Fey becomes a Recharge 6+ power.  Once per day you can use it after it's been expended.
Epic: One battle per day Step of the Fey becomes an at-will power.

Terrain Step
Special: Requires Tracker; only useable in light or no armor
Adventurer: When your Terrain Stunt power triggers you gain a free move action that you can use at any point before the end of the battle.  Narrate this as being related to the stunt in some way.
Champion: You can re-roll any rolls (skill checks or saves) you make to overcome the effects of difficult terrain, choosing the best result.

13th Age Options: Paladin Domains

This installment of 13th Age Options will be a little bit different.  Instead of designing new feats, talents, spells, etc., I'm going to explore some possible interpretations for one of the more open-ended class talents - the Paladin's Divine Domain.  Specifically, the portion that reads "if the domain you choose is designed to help Cleric spells and attacks, reinterpret the talent to help your Paladin powers."  This rule exemplifies the experimental, "rulings over rules" spirit of the game as a whole, but because it shows up at character creation in might be initially intimidating for players and GMs not used to that sort of thing.  The list of options I present here are by no means meant to be concrete; if you think of something that suits your Paladin better, by all means use that!  But hopefully this provides a solid starting point, as well as a general overview on the utility of the different Domains for Paladins.

Healing Domain

While you won't get as much mileage out of this domain's benefit as a Cleric (you simply don't have enough healing), it's by no means a waste.  It provides a solid bonus to Lay on Hands, but it probably works best if you also have the Cleric Training talent and have chosen a healing spell.  The Champion tier feat even gives you a couple uses of the Cleric's Heal spell, making this an excellent choice for a second Domain at 5th Level.  The Invocation is pretty straightforward; you get a daily use of the Cleric's Heal.

You'll probably only pick up this Domain if you have a focus on healing.  Either you don't have a leader-type in the party, or your leader simply focuses on buffs and action economy over healing (Bards and Commanders), so you're trying to supplement that.

Justice/Vengeance Domain

This domain works perfectly fine without any reinterpretation.  It's actually a really thematic domain for a Paladin, too, and a powerful party support option.

Knowledge/Lore Domain

This is another domain that doesn't require any tweaking to be used by a Paladin.  Most Paladins won't go for the "smart guy" concept, though, but perhaps the background points can be used to support a OUT or a backstory without using your normal allotment of backgrounds.

Life/Death Domain

This strikes me as one of the more limited domains in general (you don't want your allies making death saves in the first place!), even if the base benefits work fine for a Paladin.  The Epic feat notably references the Cleric's Resurrection spell, but considering it provides a free use of the spell I don't see any reason why a Paladin taking the feat shouldn't simply get a free, single use Resurrection.

Love/Beauty Domain

This domain plays with the Icon relationship rules, and as such isn't tied specifically to Cleric abilities.  Paladins, poach away!  I'd also like to add that this one is a great way to add some mechanical depth to a knight in shining armor, trying to win the favor of a paramour, archetype.

Protection/Community Domain

The Invocation works fine for Paladins, but the base benefit modifies spells (specifically, those that can be cast for broad effect).  While you could theoretically get some use out of this domain if you picked up a Cleric spell via Cleric Training, it wouldn't be worth it.

Instead, you might want to turn your Paladin abilities into broad-effect powers.  For Bastion you can take half damage from attacks against up to three allies, provided you take these attacks in the same round.  It's more straightforward if you're taking damage from an area attack that hit multiple targets, but that would likely be too situational.  Lay On Hands might allow you to effect two or three allies with a single use, effectively turning it into a mass heal (GMs should keep in mind that a Paladin is sinking two talents into this, and talents are all that a Paladin's got, and so should be generous with the effects).  For Paladin's Challenge, go ahead and have two active challenges at the same time.  The Champion feat already allows this, you'll just get the benefit earlier (and for the cost of a Talent, why not?).

Some Paladins might have more than one talent that could reasonably affect additional allies.  If the effect is minor, limited, or situational (Cleric Training and Paladin's Challenge come to mind here) this isn't a problem.  The Bastion/Lay On Hands/Protection Domain combination, however, may need to be reigned in (allow them to affect only one additional ally each), but be sure to discuss your expectations with your player (or your GM, if you're the player).

As an alternative, generous GMs might allow a Paladin with this domain to simply pick up a Cleric spell that could be cast for broad effect, but rule that the spell only affects 2 allies (since the domain also provides an invocation, we don't want a straight-up power boost compared with a Paladin who picks up the same spell from Cleric Training; instead, we're representing what the domain would grant in addition to a base spell).  Since most Clerics who benefit from this domain probably have more than just one broad effect spell, this should probably be in addition to a broad-effect Paladin talent or two.  If the Paladin doesn't have any, then maybe giving them two broad-effect Cleric spells is in order.

Ultimately, each build is going to have a different combination of options that might be boosted here.  My advice would be to aim low, and if the Paladin feels underwhelming give it a free broad effect Cleric spell (or two).  If the player upholds the role-play aspects of the Protection/Community domain, that is.  Not to the effect of being the role-play police, mind you; just be less generous with a Paladin who acts like a loner, and ask why they're really picking this domain.

Strength Domain

Obviously the invocation works fine for Paladins, but what to do about the domain's base benefit?  Paladins already wield heavy/martial weapons without penalty, so where do you go from there?  Some might be tempted to give the Paladin an additional boost to weapon die size, but letting Paladins use a d12 for a big two-hander doesn't really sit right with me considering that Barbarians can't even do that.

How else might you represent better proficiency with weapons?  Why, giving the Paladin access to a Fighter maneuver, of course!  Since the feats are already pretty much the same idea as Smite Evil you might consider offering some alternative feats as well (though a Paladin could do worse than gaining some more pseudo-Smites!).  I'm thinking something along the lines of an Adventurer feat that grants you a second Fighter Maneuver, and a Champion feat that provides a third and opens up the Champion tier options (5th and 7th level Maneuvers).  The Epic feat would follow suit, granting another Maneuver and opening up the 9th level pool.

This obviously has the additional effect of increasing the Paladin's complexity a little bit, which is attractive for those players who find the basic Paladin too simple.

Sun/Anti-Undead Domain

This time the base benefit works fine, but the Invocation could use some tweaking!  In place of "daily spell," I'l allow a roll to recover any other daily ability the Paladin has access to.  This could include a Cleric spell with Cleric Training, but Lay On Hands is also fair game.  Any use of Smite Evil beyond the one you get per battle for "free" would also qualify.  Ultimately it's a pretty straightforward conversion (and at minimum all Paladins will have Smite Evil, so it's a good general-use domain, especially for Paladins who can't get past the fluff of Way of Evil Bastards but still want to Smite a lot).

Trickery/Illusion Domain

While this domain might not fit the fluff of your archetypal Lawful-Good, Knight in Shining Armor, there's no denying that it's a powerful option for any Paladin.  It's a good thing 13th Age doesn't shoehorn you into the goody-goody role ;)

The Trick Die is great as a party buffer (if you roll high) or enemy debuffer (if you roll low), both of which fit the Paladin's expected secondary role just fine.  The Invocation will only serve to make you even harder to kill than you already are.  Your GM won't be happy, but if you like being an impenetrable fortress with legs this'll help.

War/Leadership Domain

This is another great domain that requires no modification and can easily fit the flavor of almost any Paladin.  You won't get a much more reliable party buff (every time you attack), and the Invocation is probably the strongest of all the Cleric Domains.  Just make sure you time it right; certain classes don't like when you increase the Escalation Die before they get a chance to use an ability that keys off of its value (the Fighter's Counter-Attack when it's even, or the Wizard's Cyclic Spells).

Bonus: Arcana/Mysteries Domain

This domain (and the next one) are from my "13th Age Options: The Cleric" article.  It seems a little harsh to make a Paladin first pick up the Cleric Training talent to get a Cleric spell, and then pick up Divine Domain to swap it for something else.  That's effectively one talent for the price of two, and it's nowhere near as good as the Ranger's animal companion (the only talent so far that costs 2 talent slots).
It's an easy fix, though; just let the Paladin swap out one of its limited-use abilities.  One use of Lay On Hands, or one of your daily uses of Smite Evil seems like a fair trade for most spells.  Obviously there's potential to pick up an option that's much more powerful than what you gave up.  If it seems like it'll be too game-breaking, forfeit two daily uses of Smite Evil for a single spell, or limit the spell to one that's 2 levels lower than you (like the Sorcerer's "Access to Wizardry").  Remember, this game isn't about power-gaming, and while it's pretty resistant to min-maxing that can go out the window when you start swapping options between classes.  You don't want this to be a go-to option for any Paladin in your campaigns because it just happens to be that good.  It should be a roughly-balanced tradeoff for a Paladin that legitimately has a connection to arcane magic as part of the character concept.  Maybe they have a background "Former Bodyguard of the Archmage," or their OUT is "I'm the botched attempt at creating a super-soldier through powerful arcane magics."  Let 'em take this domain to back that up!

Bonus:  Focus/Fortitude Domain

Paladins don't have much in the way of spells that they can prepare multiple times.  This domain is going to be a lot more niche than most even with tweaks, but for the Paladin who picks up Cleric Training, the Arcana/Mysteries domain, or Lay on Hands this can let them tweak which options they have access to each full heal up.  For example, they can prepare an extra use of Lay On Hands by sacrificing a daily Cleric spell, or a spell gained from the Arcana/Mysteries domain.  For Paladins that only have one such option (we'll use Lay On Hands for our example again, but this time the Paladin has no spells), swapping for those daily uses of Smite Evil is a good idea, just like in the above Arcana/Mysteries domain.

Flexible Interpretations of Flexible Attacks - Battle Cries

There are a lot of directions you can go when portraying a Bard, especially given that the class is typically depicted as a jack-of-all-trades.  In 13th Age, it's arguably the most complex class in the core book so there are a lot of ways you can customize your Bard mechanically, but Flexible Attacks are a surprisingly open-ended springboard for narratively differentiating your Bard's fighting style.

The most obvious interpretation to take is that Battle Cries are exactly that - your Bard shouts commands, and your allies follow them.  The mechanical benefits represent the effectiveness of your commands.  While this is certainly a valid take on these Flexible Attacks, today I was trying to think about ways to step on the toes of the upcoming Commander class less.  Because ultimately, that's the Commander's main schtick, and in that sense it's a bit unfortunate that the default flavor for the Bard's attacks overlaps with it so much.

Another option is to play off the whole magic-from-music angle for as much as it's worth.  Your Bard isn't shouting orders when he uses his battle cries, but singing, and the effects of the attacks are a direct result of the verses recited.

Some players don't like the "guy who sings when he's fighting" archetype, and admittedly in some settings and groups it can be a little out of place.  It's no big leap to say that your Bard casts minor magics while fighting.  "Pull It Together" isn't so different from the Cleric's "Heal" spell, though it's quicker, if less reliable.  Maybe the reason why it's less reliable is that the somatic components of the spell are the jabs and slashes of your blade.  If your enemy parries your sword at the wrong time, the spell fizzles out.  Or maybe the blade itself holds the magic, and it's not released unless you strike properly with the weapon.  Any of these explanations and more are perfectly well-supported by the flexible attack mechanics (you gain some benefit depending on the results of your melee attacks).  You're a "gish," much like the Swordmage, Bladesinger, Hexblade, etc.

One particularly intriguing interpretation is that Battle Cries are not magical, but they're not literal shouts either.  This type of Bard is a clever, flashy swordsman, adept at feinting, misdirection, and providing openings for allies.  This could be your swashbuckler, or you could inject the performance elements back into your description but instead of song, go with dance.  This is most appropriate for a Dex-based Bard (and most are anyways), and I like to visualize this fighting style as being like River Tam's fight scene from the end of Serenity.  You use a dancer's grace to keep a foe busy enough to give an ally a breather or an opening, inspire allies with the sheer beauty of your movements, cause enemies to over-extend as they try to match your strokes with their substantially less flexible bodies, etc.

The point is, remember not to box yourself in when you create your character and see "Battle Cries" written in the book.  During play, embellish the descriptions of your Flexible Attacks to make it clear to the other players what's going on.  You don't have to do this every time you roll the d20, obviously (that would grow tiresome), but you should definitely embrace the fact that 13th Age is a narrative game, and note that the rules for Battle Cries leave them very open-ended (except for the name...).

13th Age Options: The Fighter

The Fighter has always been a popular class, and is arguably the most relatable, grounded-in-reality archetype in the game.  D&D (pre 4E) has always treated the Fighter as a simple class, ideal for beginners but without the options to be all that relevant at higher levels.  Many players consider it boring.  In 13th Age, the Fighter is middle of the road in terms of complexity, being manageable for beginners (especially if the more straightforward options are selected), yet with enough dials to keep players who like that kind of stuff engaged.  Some complaints about the class include flexible attacks, which some players feel remove too much narrative agency from the hands of the player (an issue I've addressed before), and the reduction of its tactical "defender" options compared with D&D 4E.  In this article I'll present new Fighter-specific feats and a new Maneuver that address these issues, as well as making a lightly-armored Fighter a more viable option.

New Maneuver

Interpose (1st Level Fighter Maneuver)
Triggering Roll: Any natural even roll
Effect:  An ally engaged with you or the target gains a bonus to AC equal to the higher of your Dexterity or Constitution modifier.  You take an equal penalty to your own AC.
Adventurer Feat:  You may reduce the penalty to your AC by half, rounded down.
Champion Feat: Once per battle you can use this maneuver at-will, without having to trigger it (decide before you make the roll).
Epic Feat:  You may ignore the penalty to AC when you use this maneuver.

Discussion

Obviously some players will balk at a maneuver that reduces their own AC, but that's missing the point.  This is a tactical maneuver, not a strict power boost.  It's designed to replicate the "mark" of 4E, and its sole purpose is to make the Fighter a more attractive target than the ally he's protecting.  The Fighter is probably tougher with higher AC, HP, and Recovery rolls, so most enemies should logically avoid attacking them and go for the easier quarry first.  By buffing the ally's AC and hurting your own, you tilt that enemy's decision in favor of attacking you. Yes this could allow an enemy attack to hit when it would have missed, but sometimes it's worth the risk if you can take it but your ally can't.

In some ways Fighters already had solid defender abilities with the Threatening class feature, the Skilled Intercept talent, and a handful of maneuvers (Shield Bash, Punish Them, Strong Guard, and Swordmaster's Anticipation), but no real good way of defending an ally while maintaining the position of fighting side by side with them (Strong Guard notwithstanding, but that requires both a shield and that you miss, so it's less likely to trigger when the Escalation Die is higher).  This Maneuver provides that, and with the feat support it can be less dangerous to use.

New Fighter Feats

Reliable Attacker
Adventure: You may opt to use any Maneuver that triggers off of a natural even roll or hit as an at-will power instead.
Champion: Once per battle when using a natural even roll/hit at-will power, you may opt to trade in its effect for another if the roll triggers a Maneuver that you'd like to use instead.
Epic: Once per battle you can trigger a flexible attack with your natural even roll/hit at-will, gaining the effects of both.

Mobile Fighter
Adventure: When wearing light armor you gain a bonus to Disengage rolls and Skilled Intercept saves equal to the higher of your Dexterity or Wisdom modifier.  
Champion:  Once per battle while wearing light armor you gain a free move action that you can use at any time during your turn.  You can use this move action to continue moving after being intercepted if you successfully Disengage.
Epic: Once per battle as a free action you can pop free from an enemy instead of rolling a Disengage check or a Skilled Intercept save if you're wearing light armor.  Additionally, you may use your free move action granted from the Champion tier feat when it's not your turn.