After suggesting we could continue with 13th Age or go to another system, we've all decided to resume Pathfinder next session, picking up where we left off a few months ago. Interesting, yes....but not terribly unexpected. Everyone had a great time with 13th Age, but it is a very minimalist system in a number of ways, and my group is a conventional, modern sort of gang which craves elaboration and detail. This is a group which likes more skills, not less. More feats, not less. More exotic options, not less. They have enjoyed 13th Age, but they have also noticed that once you've played a class you pretty much know it. You have to work a bit to make a fighter in 13th Age look and play all that differently from any prior fighter; this lack of diversity, which they blame mostly on the lack of content for the game right now, is considered a bit of a crutch until future books (13 True Ways, for example) come out. It's probably a perception shared by gamers used to Pathfinder as their bread and butter, but may not resonate so much with gamers looking for a simpler experience.
As a player, I would love to play 13th Age....over Pathfinder. I'm still pushing for my one friend to run it; I think he'd do a good job and it would get me a chance to play. But for now....back to Pathfinder. I've had enough of a break now that I think I'll enjoy the return, for a while at least. Now I have to hope that in a couple months D&D 5E manages to hit the goldilocks band of sufficient diversity of interest for my players and ease of access for me as DM. If it can pull that off, then I'll be happy camper. If not....then Pathfinder will remain local king, I imagine.
Note that I'm not done at all with 13th Age, though. We've got an active weekly Wednesday game going on that's quite fun, although I expect when that game concludes we will probably migrate back to Pathfinder as well. Books like Deep Magic and the New Paths Compendium have my players chomping at the bit to try them out.
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