One Unique Things, from 13th Age and the Special Appreciation

25 Jun, 2025

Prologue

When I opened Daggerheart, one of the first things I noticed was the Special Appreciation section. So many of my favorite RPGs live on that list. While the authors note the key inspiration they drew from each game, there are a lot of mechanics and tools from those games that can elevate a game of Daggerheart.

13th Age is a game I refer to as "Dungeons and Dragons, with blackjack, and hookers". It was a D&D-alike written by Rob Heinsoo (lead designer of D&D 4E) and Jonathan Tweet (lead designer of D&D 3E), and I think it was a version of D&D that really could have been.

One Unique Thing, from 13th Age

The One Unique Thing (OUT) is a mechanic with minimal rules or mental overhead, yet one which adds so much vibrancy to a campaign. I absolutely adore this mechanic in 13th Age, and I think this one goes straight to how a lot of people are playing Daggerheart.

From the 13th Age SRD:

The rule book goes further, but I encourage you to pick up the game - the second edition just launched!¹

A character's One Unique thing sets them apart. And the key element is in the name: it makes a character unique.

If a character's One Unique Thing is Son of the Elf Queen, that tells the GM a few things. There's a Queen of the Elves, and she has but one son. Change it to Heir of the Elf Queen and you get even more info: there's only one heir to the Elf Queen. (But maybe there's another sibling, disgraced, and barred from the throne?)

Players (by way of table consensus) are given wide latitude to shape the world with their OUTs. An OUT of The Last Necromancer immediately carves a hole through the world. While there may have been many necromancers once, no longer. There is but one, and it's the PC. It doesn't mean there can't be more - entire trilogies have been written about that premise - but when the campaign kicks off, there's one last necromancer.

Some other great OUTs:

• The Greatest Dwarven Engineer. Talk about true power. One of my players chose this for my most recent campaign, and what a hook. Why is the greatest dwarven engineer in a level one party? (The difference between theory and practice...) Also, this one really forced me to hone my GMing skill.²
• Survived the Diabolist Attack. A PC doesn't have to be superlative to be notable. We know there was a Diabolist attack (destroying an entire tribe of outlanders), this PC (same campaign) survived. Everywhere he went, this dragonborn drakona had a whole "boy who lived" vibe going. So many plot hooks.
• I have the most beautiful voice in the world. Not every OUT needs to be applicable to combat or wild adventuring. Sometimes just making a character truly notable is enough: the adventure will bend to suit.
• Married to Steve. Steve has one spouse, and this PC is it! OUTs aren't just about power or notoriety, they're telegraphs to the GM about what the player wants their time in the sun to be about. It doesn't have to be world shaking.³

In Daggerheart

Daggerheart's Experiences are cribbed from 13th Age, so One Unique Things port over just as easily. Even moreso, I think, because of Daggerheart's Building a Map / Filling Spaces, Leaving Blanks guidance. Daggerheart campaigns are a very collaborative affair, so let players pick a thing that makes their character special has weight.

Some GMs may balk at the power given to players: a player who chooses The Last Necromancer puts strong limitations on the GM's ability to include all kinds of high fantasy classics like liches and undead. But restrictions breed creativity - a world without necromancers is a fantastic pitch.

OUTs can be added to Daggerheart without any rules overhead: just make them an Experience. Boom, done. They're already meant to be expressive phrases describing who a character is and what they can do - go a little bit further and you've got a stew going.