When comparing 13th Age vs Microlite20 Purest Essence, the Slant community recommends 13th Age for most people. In the question“What are the best tabletop RPGs?” 13th Age is ranked 27th while Microlite20 Purest Essence is ranked 54th. The most important reason people chose 13th Age is:
The world is half built, letting you get in and leave your mark. Each class plays mechanically different than other d20 versions. Skills are placed by backgrounds. It's a short hand and interesting way of playing DnD.
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Pros
Pro The game is built for people who've done it before
The world is half built, letting you get in and leave your mark. Each class plays mechanically different than other d20 versions. Skills are placed by backgrounds. It's a short hand and interesting way of playing DnD.
Pro Long lists of skills are gone completely
And covered by backgrounds (much like FATE or Cortex+) so that players aren't searching through lists of skills and what they can do constantly.
Pro Gonzo without the grid
13th Age has some very gonzo fights with party combos, lots of variable powers for monsters and PC's but as a simple set of rules for combat that speed it up without losing a lot of options.
Pro Easy to start
If you are looking for a game like DnD, but much easier - try Microlite20 Pures Essence with Ultimate Fantasy supplement.
Pro Rules will be familiar to any veteran D&D player
As Microlite20 is a stripped down version of the d20 SRD with the same classes, races, items and abilities, it will be easy to understand by anyone that has previously played a D&D game. Especially D&D 3.x.
Pro Compatible with d20 SRD
Any material written for the d20 system can be used with the Microlite20 system. All creatures, items, monsters, spells, etc from any d20 SRD licensed resource are compatible with the Microlite20 system.
Pro Clear writing
The writing is very terse and to the point. There's very little in terms of fluff. As such the rules are easy to comprehend and reference.
Pro Simple rules allow easy customization
m20 remains compatible with the d20 SRD, but rules are lite enough that adding modifications to the system is trivially simple.
Cons
Con Too similar to 4th
Con The Icons and the PC relationships to them can confuse
Can be confusing, especially for new players.
Con It doesn't really do anything new, it just looks pretty
Con Combat can potentially get stale
Due to the fact that combat is simplified to just 3 variables (AC, HP and attacks) a less experienced DM runs the risk of creating repetitive combat.