Paizo, the publisher behind Pathfinder and Starfinder, has announced 13 Omens, a brand-new horror RPG that breaks from everything the company is known for. No d20s, no character builds, no multi-session campaigns. Instead, designers Jason Bulmahn and Joe Pasini have built a game you can play in a single evening, where the mechanics themselves get scarier as the night goes on.
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Find events near youThe centrepiece is the Omen Dice system. Players share a communal bag of dice, and as the session progresses, more Omen Dice get added to the pool. Every roll carries a growing chance of something going horribly wrong. It is a clever physical representation of rising dread, and it means the final act of any session will feel noticeably more dangerous than the first.
Bulmahn is best known as the lead designer of Pathfinder, a game that famously offered a crunchier alternative to D&D. 13 Omens sits at the opposite end of the spectrum. The rules are deliberately lightweight, with the focus on atmosphere and storytelling rather than character optimisation. Character death is described as "extremely likely," which should set expectations for the kind of game this is.
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Set up your group for freeThis marks only the third RPG Paizo has ever published, after Pathfinder and Starfinder. The decision to step outside their d20 comfort zone is a meaningful one. Paizo publisher Erik Mona will be running demo sessions at UK Games Expo in May, giving players a chance to test the system before its wider release. If you are heading to UKGE, check who else is going on Backseat Gamer.
Interested players can sign up for updates on the Paizo website.
Sources: EN World | Paizo | UK Games Expo
