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Some thoughts on converting Ptlous to 13th Age.

Prior Art

A post to Google+ by Francois Labrecque suggests some icons for use in a 13th Age Ptolus game. I had some problems with this list (as, no doubt, others will have with mine). Some of the icons seemed too small time. Not enough of the icons are in opposition to each other. Some seriously important parts of the written Ptolus experience are missing. Only eleven icons are listed. Posts of the playtest that came out of that link mentions that all of the characters had nothing but positive relations with the icons, which seems less than ideal. And so on. I do like the idea of icons being mostly organizations instead of personalities, though. That works a lot better for the tone of Ptolus.

Icons

Icons are most often institutions or organizations in 13th Age Ptolus, sometimes merely a loosely associated collection of smaller organizations or families. In the following descriptions, each entry will list the following information:

• Description: the basic idea and manifestation of the icon.
• Nature: How the icon fits into the 13th Age notion of "heroic", "ambiguous" or "villainous".
• Components: any organizations that fall under the broad umbrella of the icon, though which most of the character/icon interaction reveals itself.
• Allied Icons and Enemy Icons: relations with the other icons
• Cohesion: Organizations almost always contain some level of infighting, so fostering friendly relations with one part of the organization may mean gaining the animosity of another. How true this is for an icon depends on how cohesive its component are. For icons with low cohesion, the meaning of "positive", "conflicted" and "negative" relationships with characters gets a little muddy. Relations with low cohesion icons are usually conflicted, where the character can call on some components of the icon, but others may oppose her. Negative relations are the next most common with with low cohesion icons, where the character is disliked equally by all the components of the icon, even those that otherwise don't agree on much. Positive relations are extremely rare with low cohesion icons, but it may be possible to get in good with all of the factions within an icon.
• The True Danger: Everything will be all right provided…

The Church of Lothian

• Description: The dominant religion in the Empire and Ptolus.
• Nature: Usually heroic. Sometimes ambiguous. Sometimes villainous.
• Components: The formal hierarchy of the Church forms the bulk of the organization; however, devout followers fill the ranks and guide the philosophy of many smaller groups, such as the Knights of the Pale. The Holy Emperor also commands the loyalty of a diverse collection of interest who firmly support his claim as rightful ruler of the Empire.
• Allied Icons: The Commissar (usually)
• Enemy Icons: The Traduced, The Secular Empire
• Cohesion: High. Though various followers and loyal groups follow disorganized orbits in the Church's halo, and various factions exist within its hierarchy, the Church tends to act in a unified way in most important matters.

The Commissar

The Galchutt

• Description: The Lords of Chaos imprisoned in the world.
• Nature: Pretty much always villainous.
• Components: Being imprisoned and asleep, the Galchutt rely on minions for all their actions. While the Vested of the Galchutt are their typical agents, the Galchutt also work through chaos cults, anyone who uses chaositech, and their own spawn (e.g. rhodintor, zaug, etc.).
• Allied Icons:
• Enemy Icons: The Lords of the Seven Chains
• Cohesion: Low. While the various groups of minions of the Galchutt may not know what one another are doing, and may not like each other, its rare that they actually work to cross purposes.

The Guilds

The Lords of the Seven Chains

• Description: Solar angels dedicated to keeping the Galchutt safely imprisoned.
• Nature: Usually heroic. Sometimes ambiguous.
• Components: Most groups that serve a "higher good" ultimately dance to the tune of this icon, some more directly than others. The Malkuth are the most directly connected to the icon, but other groups (particularly the Keepers of the Veil and the Knights of the Golden Cross) watch each others backs.
• Allied Icons: The Commissar
• Enemy Icons: The Galchutt
• Cohesion: Moderate. Most of the groups serving this icon are independent and dedicated to a specific agenda, but communicate and unite against threats.

The Nobility

The Pactlords of the Quaan

Raguel

The Secular Empire

The Shuul

The Syndicates

The Traduced

Inverted Pyramid, Iron Mage, Brides of Magic.

Vox Populi