13th Age character write-up: Barbarian

Another 13th Age character; this time a hot elf barbarian chick!

Althana Wurmscale

13th Age's Barbarian is billed as the easiest and rule-free class to play. I can't help but agree. Their lists of "moves" only includes Talents. Simple enough so I'll get started.

Wood Elf Stuff:

Elven Grace (each turn roll a d6; if it's less than or equal to the escalation die you get an extra standard action and increase the die by a step)

+2 Dex or +2 Wis.

Barbarian Stuff:

Hit Points: (7+Con)x3

Total Feats: 1 adventurer

Class Talents: 3

Ability Bonus +2 Str or Con

AC: 12 (Light)+middle of Con/Dex/Wis+Level

PD: 11+middle of Str/Con/Dex+Level

MD: 10+middle of Int/Wis/Cha+Level

Now Ability Scores:

16

16

14

10

8

8

(I used the point buy system here.)

Now I'll distribute them and factor in the bonuses:

Str: 16+2(class bonus)=18

Dex: 16+2(race bonus)=18

Con: 14

Int: 8

Wis: 10

Cha: 8

Now I'll plug it all in:

Hit Points: 27

AC: 15

PD: 16

MD: 9

Now it's time for gear: 1 Greataxe, a (half) suit of chain mail, and 40gp.

Now I'll figure out the rest of my options

Talents: Building Frenzy, Slayer, Whirlwind

Feat: Toughness

Backgrounds: Wurm slayer (+2), wasteland survivalist (+2), pit fighter (+4)

Unique: I am destined to take the Elf Queen's heart

Icon relationships: High Druid (1+), Elf Queen (1-), Orc Lord (1-)

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That about sums it up. So the complete Althana Wurmscale looks like so:

Str: 18

Dex: 18

Con: 14

Int: 8

Wis: 10

Cha: 8

Hit Points: 30

AC: 15

PD: 16

MD: 9

Basic Melee: +4, 1d10+3

Basic Ranged: -

Talents: Building Frenzy, Slayer, Whirlwind

Feat: Toughness

Backgrounds: Wurm slayer (+2), wasteland survivalist (+2), pit fighter (+4)

Unique: I am destined to take the Elf Queen's heart

Icon relationships: High Druid (1+), Elf Queen (1-), Orc Lord (1-)

Upon her birth the stars proclaimed that Althana would take the Elf Queen's heart. Whether she would take it romantically or physically is lost in interpretation. Regardless, Althana spent her youth wondering the wasteland with her tribe, preying on the colossal wurms native there, until they were attacked and overrun by marauding orcs. The orcs captured Althana and threw her in their fighting pits. Little did they know that their entertainment forged Althana into a furious warrior. One day she escaped and not only swore vengeance on the orcs for their transgression but also to fulfill the prophecy the stars with witch the stars burdened her.

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Commentary

I hate to say it but I'm starting to like everything about 13th Age that doesn't have to do with the core of the game, i.e. the Icons, Backgrounds, and Uniques. This level of character creation just doesn't rub me the right way.

Players literally have a smorgasbord of options presented to them upon character creation and in my experience that does more to repel players than it does to attract them (unless they're that far in, of course.) I'd rather just roll Ability Scores, distribute them optimally depending on my class and get into the meat of things. No equations. No averaging.

My beef here isn't with min-maxing. You can min-max and still roleplay. My beef is that this system seems so convoluted that it's beyond playable. Not to mention a majority of the powers revolve around combat.

I've always disliked systems that revolve around combat. Not because I dislike combat or think it dissuades roleplay, or anything of that sort. But when your mechanics center around combat so much you're pretty much required to include it in your games unless no one minds blowing 15 minutes creating a character.

I'm just ranting at this point. Regardless I'd still like to run or play 13th Age.

Thoughts on Progression and Player Choice

I've been concerned with character generation lately. More so concerned with character progression and the concept of player choice within class features. By class progression I mean how classes change overtime via gaining experience and levels. By player choice I mean significant choices players can make to effect their class and gameplay.

Here's a graph representing how I see class progression across three games: Lamentations of the Flame Princess, 13th Age, and D&D 5th edition.

Lamentations is probably the most simple and straight forward. No player choice at all; it's a straight line to the top baby. However specialists, magic users, and clerics have some form of choice. The first gets skill points. The second and third get more spells. However I'm not sure if this level of freedom fits within my definition of player choice. Player choices should feel significant and effect gameplay and I just don't feel that the choices offered by these classes is either. They feel more like an illusion of choice, i.e. you're making a choice that ultimately doesn't matter.

13th Age is probably on the opposite end of the spectrum compared to Lamentations; choices are abound. For some classes the choices are tiered; Talents are different from Maneuvers witch are different from Feats which are different from etc. etc. The choices here are significant because they basically let you cheat. Missed an attack? Nope! Roll you're weapon damage anyway. However you only get to do it once per combat which I think is fair. Upsides are that each player's character feels unique; even if you lay up two barbarians next to each other they'll probably be very different. Downsides are the big lists which bring min-maxing to mid. Which feat is the best? Which isn't? And that kind of thinking can be unwanted at the table.

5th edition does something unique in that it doesn't eliminate player choice at all and it doesn't overwhelm players with dozens of options. Instead at a certain point it makes you make a decision and you're set on that path permanently going forward. This lets players explore their options without feeling overwhelmed nor does it let them feel oppressed by being stuck on a single path. Good Stuff.

My ideal game would fall somewhere in between 13th Age and 5e. I love the customization of 13th Age but don't care for the big lists. At the same time I like 5e's method, but would love to experiment with customization more.

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