13 Omens from Paizo: Review

Fast Facts

Type: Tabletop Roleplaying Game (Modern Supernatural Horror)
Players/Party Size: 3-5 players with 1 Game Master.
Playtime/Session Length: Depends on setup, but 2-4 hours. You can take a fast-paced one-shot or narrative arc approach
Complexity/Crunch: Light
Cost: Currently Crowdfunding Via Kickstarter. You can get the digital rulebook for $15 or a physical rulebook for $35

The Hook & Premise

Set in a dark and twisted reflection of our modern world, 13 Omens drops players who take the role of everyday people into a reality that is besieged by specters, supernatural killers, accursed locations, and ancient secrets that would have been best left buried. The game shifts away from the high-fantasy and rules heavy games like Pathfinder and Starfinder that Paizo has become known for, instead allowing industry veterans Jason Bulmahn and Joe Pasini to take players into rules-lite, high-stakes scenarios.

Presentation & Production

Stepping away from the Pathfinder world of Golarion, Paizo gives players a new horror-themed world that is sleek, modern, and ominous. Players taking a look at preview adventures from Paizo, like The Haunting of Hollybrook, will find adventures that can be, at times, downright terrifying. While events such as GenCon and GalaxyCon previews have featured dice made specifically for the previews, the Kickstarter campaign touts all new Omen dice sets that will be part of the production. The visual design relies on stark shadows, a general sense of dread and unease, and atmospheric chilling narration to set the scene.

How It Plays

The core engine of the system is a narrative-first, rules-lite system that seeks to maximize the psychological tension at the table rather than grid-based tactical combat. The inclusion of the Omen dice allow the GM to continue to raise the stakes as the story continues while building a sense of dread as the game goes on. The game is built around scenario-specific archetypes. The utilization of the shared dice bag represents the tension engine of the table. The game possesses a total of eight safe dice and 13 Omen dice. The bag starts with safe dice and one omen mixed in with the GM (called The Host in 13 Omens) holding the reserve pool of Omen dice in front of them. Rather than bringing your own dice to the table, everyone blindly reaches into the bag to draw out a pool of dice to roll. The roll of the dice determine whether or not you succeed at the task but with a twist. Omen dice may be one or all of the dice you pull out of the bag and a bad roll of the Omen dice can carry serious consequences. Whether it’s psychological terror, wounds, or even escalation of the threat level, Omen dice mean that every character has skin in the game.

The game is built to mimic the natural progression and structure of a classic horror film with tension building throughout the game until the climax of the story. The story features three acts which can be played as a campaign or with each act serving as a one-shot. When players fail checks, trigger narrative complications, or confront horror, the Host may slowly add Omen dice from the reserve to the bag. As the story continues the story shifts from 8 safe and 1 Omen to a more complex chance system. As you get closer to the climax of the story, each pull of the bag carries a higher risk of lethal or terrifying outcomes.

It’s a game where you can die and be pushed to your breaking point. The math is laid out so that a character being psychologically corrupted or dying is a legitimate possibility by the end of the game. In 13 Omens, defeating the horror isn’t the goal; it’s simply surviving the night, even if that means surviving traumatized or forever changed.

What Works & What Doesn’t

What Works:

Having played Pathfinder and Starfinder (shoutout GenCon for always having those available), 13 Omens feels like a drastic and refreshing departure for Paizo. It feels as if the company stepped back and really let Joe and Jason cook with this system. 13 Omens not only proves that Paizo can step away from massive rulebooks and grid based fantasy into the magnificent world of horror but that they can do so while creating a great experience.

The rules-lite framework really helps to keep the spotlight on the players and the story encouraging roleplay, investigation, and a growing sense of dread. The Omen dice keep you concerned about ratios (safe to Omen dice) and less about math. 13 Omens is also laid out brilliantly for GMs looking to run self-contained and high-energy one-shots perhaps because they struggle to maintain attendance session to session in a way that allows for a long campaign.

What Doesn’t:

13 Omens will not be for everyone. That is probably an obvious statement, but the horror tones are definitely there, and because of the way the game is structured in the preview adventures, the horror can only be toned down so much by the Host meaning that there’s definitely an age limit on the story as well as a content limit for those squeamish or easily scared. Like other horror-based TTRPGs, the whole table really needs to buy into the horror feel in order for the game to land.

While my preview experience at GalaxyCon was a lot of fun, I could also see how someone leaning too heavily into comedy or action-hero bravado (think Ash and the Evil Dead) could harm or even shatter the atmosphere of the story. The streamlined rules approach to archetypes may put off some players looking for the long term character progression or optimization that can come from longer campaigns in some of Paizo’s other TTRPGs. Again it’s not necessarily that these “don’t work” but they may not work for everyone.

Special Considerations

GM Prep & Support

The mechanics of the system allow for minimal prep math and streamlined adversary tracking for those serving as the Host. Having reviewed both available preview adventures, the system really feels like it allows GMs to focus on key horror elements like pacing, jump scares, describing the mood and atmosphere, and building that dreadful sense that something is looking over your shoulder in the players throughout the game. The Kickstarter campaign is already off to a great start, promising dedicated introductory modules and narratively framed stories sure to keep the table in suspense while teaching Hosts how to run the 13 Omens system effectively.

Character Customization & Agency

Characters are ready to go out of the gate as normal everyday people. This means characters are highly vulnerable to the supernatural events that cross their paths. This also leaves room for minimal player customization. On the other hand, the rules-lite, horror movie style focus emphasizes player agency as the players focus on investigative tasks and the choices they make. Rather than going toe to toe with horror, the squishiness of making characters everyday people means the players must be smart in their decisions and challenges less they become overpowered.

Worldbuilding & Setting Integration

13 Omens can best be described as our world, but twisted. The tools and archetypes laid out allow for prebuilt ready to go scenarios but also give GMs the tools to set their own terrifying mysteries within their own hometowns or modern environments their players may recognize.

Safety & Session Zero Tools

While the preview adventures come with some disclaimers, it’s likely the full rulebook will come with much clearer rules regarding safety and session zero given the contemporary, visceral nature of supernatural killers, ghosts, and psychological terror present in the game. As I stated earlier because of the content, this system will not be for everyone and the Host of my game did a great job communicating that from the very beginning of the preview.

Final Thoughts

I genuinely loved playing 13 Omens. It scratches the horror itch, and Jason Bulmahn and Joe Pasini have done a great job crafting a system that perfectly makes you feel like you’ve been drawn into a horror movie. The three-act setup combined with the Omen dice makes even the most disengaged player unable to recognize the stakes and fear as it grows through the story. The system marks a nice change in approach from Paizo, while serving as a masterclass in making table tension a visual and physical component of the game. The tailored archetypes and zero-math setup make the game an ideal choice for one-shots, halloween sessions, or even limited mini-campaigns.

Don’t miss your chance to back 13 Omens on Kickstarter today

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